The Visitors
by PotassiumNickelIron
Summary: After the defeat of the Third Angel, Tokyo-3 fearfully anticipates the arrival of the next one...but not before two strange people turn up in a little blue box...  Rated T just in case. Inspired by "The Lonely Angel's Thesis" by Ashura5000.
1. Prologue

_**Author's note: **This story takes place the day after and follows on from Episode 1 in the Evangelion continuity._

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><p><strong>The Visitors<strong>

**By**

**PotassiumNickelIron**

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><p><strong>Chapter I<strong>

**Prologue**

NERV Headquarters was quiet. It was an unearthly, eerie quiet that seemed unnatural in place like this, a paramilitary base. But it was a brittle quiet nonetheless. Its immanence seemed to perforate every nook and cranny of the underground bunker, and yet, like a thin sheet of glass, it was perfectly breakable.

Of course, this thought did not concern anyone here for the time being. Commander Gendo Ikari sat and stared blankly into space as usual. Nobody quite understood at all what was happening. His dark and reflective glasses almost always hid his eyes when he was planning, as if to prevent an insight into his thoughts in some way.

Right now, however, he was concerned with the small matter of his son. His son had just been ordered to come to Tokyo-3, for the purpose of piloting a prototype Evangelion mecha to defeat an invading extraterrestrial creature: The Third Angel. Ikari was surprised at the boy's defiance at first, if he was honest. But the boy had quickly given in once he had brought in the girl. Rei. Oh, Rei...but he was getting sidetracked. His son had defeated the Angel, yes, but he had ended up hospitalised in the process. Pathetic.

So now, all he could do was wait for him to crawl back out of bed. The boy almost hadn't done it, fighting the Angel. Coward. Ikari hated cowards. And he would know, being as his own flesh and blood was one of them. His disgust did not show on his face. But every time he thought of...that boy...a wave of unpleasant emotions washed over him.

But enough of this dwelling on someone undeserving of this attention. It would be done soon. All the pieces were just beginning to fall into place. The corners of Ikari's mouth turned up momentarily. Success always pleased him, even if he resisted showing it. But no matter. His face could not be seen under his folded, cotton-gloved hands. Why should he worry whether people could see him smiling? Nevertheless, his mouth went back into a neutral frown once again.

His Vice Commander, Kozo Fuyutsuki, did not look at Commander Ikari. Ikari was a man who told everyone else where their place was. He said nothing unless Ikari did. That was the way it was. Besides, Ikari was not the kind of man for conversation. Fuyutsuki understood that, and didn't tend to talk to Ikari unless it was important. Ikari did not see Fuyutsuki as a friend. He saw him merely as an advisor, a helping hand. Nothing more, and nothing less. Ikari didn't have friends. Friends were, apparently, for the weak. It was as if Ikari was trying to come to terms with his own individuality.

Fuyutsuki was really unsure now of how things were going to pan out. The Commander's son had just arrived. What was his name now...Shinji? Shinji, that was it. Fuyutsuki did not question Ikari on the fact he barely spoke to him. He knew and everyone else knew that you never questioned the Commander on what he wanted to do with his life.

It was worrying, really. Waiting for the next Angel to arrive...it was agonising. It could take anything from a number of days or weeks right up to years. Fuyutsuki wasn't quite sure which one would be worse. Shaking off the horrible thought of the End of the World, Fuyutsuki tried to focus on what was happening now. It was best not to live in the future.

Time just ticked past now. Fuyutsuki glanced over at his next-in-command, Captain Misato Katsuragi. She was a young girl, but she did know how to get the job done, and by God she would in any way possible. Right now, she seemed to be having a few rare moments of quiet. It often took a lot. It was strange, nobody here was speaking. Unnerving, in fact.

Of course, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi wasn't in the room. That was probably it. Misato often conducted conversations with Dr. Akagi as if they were secretaries on their coffee break. Well, at least, Misato did. Dr. Akagi barely ever had time to get her words in to the conversation.

Fuyutsuki's eyes shifted to Ikari. Still sitting with that fixed pose. He hadn't moved a muscle for what might have been hours now. This was a, to put it in broad terms, 'skill' of Ikari's. He was very, very patient, and very, very thoughtful, constantly reflecting, he supposed, on the day's events. Solitude probably did that to a person.

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><p>Dr. Ritsuko Akagi entered the room in the manner only someone who constantly wears a labcoat can: Hands thrust into the pockets, with some books and folders tucked under an arm. Almost constantly stoic, but never grimly so, she had a quick and efficient walk, as if her brain was calculating every move her legs made perfectly.<p>

She walked up to her friend, Misato Katsuragi, who appeared to be lost in thought.

'Good morning, Misato,' she said, the tone of her voice rising and drooping quicker than Misato could react.

'Oh. Morning, Ritsuko.'

'Did you sleep well?'

'Well, I've sorta been worrying about Shinji. How is he?'

'He's better. I've heard reports that he's awake. He's a little bit rough, but I think he'll pull through. He's had a lucky escape.'

'That's good to know. I'll have to go see him later.'

'Indeed.'

'What about Rei?'

'Much the same. She went back to school this morning.'

'That girl just never gives up.'

'Well, I suppose she felt obligated to go back.'

'That quickly? She's still in a sling, isn't she?'

'Well, you know Rei.'

Ritsuko glanced up at Vice Commander Fuyutsuki. He was looking in the same direction as Commander Ikari. Both of them were very still. They barely ever spoke. They were odd like that. Always together, but also apart...

'Whatcha looking at?'

'What? Oh, nothing. You know. I haven't had my morning coffee.'

'You mean even your brain can go on the fritz?'

Ritsuko gave a small smile in response to the sarcastic question.

'I guess that I—'

_VWEE-RP! VWEE-RP!_

The alarms rang out and the screens flashed. Messages flashed. First Lieutenant Makoto Hyuga, one of the three main computer technicians on the bridge, suddenly turned round. 'My God, you're not going to believe this.'

'What? What is it?' asked Misato, running over to see his screen. 'There's something approaching?'

'Negative...there's something...appearing inside the base?'

'My God! Another Angel?'

'Negative! It's...it's a pattern we've never encountered before. The system doesn't recognise it!'

'Are you sure it's not human?'

'Of course it's not human!' cried First Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba, one of Makoto's comrades, from across the bridge. 'But what the hell is it?'

Ritsuko put her hand on the back of the third computer technician, Maya Ibuki's seat and peered over her shoulder at the screen. 'Yes, there's something happening in one of the corridors. Maya, try enhancing the image.'

'Yes, Dr. Akagi.' The young girl tapped at the keyboard a few times. 'It's no use! It's like it's invisible.'

Ikari spoke. 'Send out some troops. I want to know what the foreign object is, and, if necessary, I want it destroyed! Nothing gets through to Terminal Dogma!'

'You heard the man!' cried Captain Katsuragi, and several troops were quickly deployed.

__Just what I need___,_ Fuyutsuki thought...

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><p><em>All characters, settings and other properties in this chapter owned by Studio GAINAX. I own nothing. Please don't sue me!<em>


	2. Arrival

**Chapter II**

**Arrival**

The TARDIS doors swung open with a faint creak. A young-looking man stepped out. He wore a brown tweed jacket and a pair of suspenders with a very quaint-looking shirt underneath, the kind someone's grandfather would wear. He wore trousers that were rolled up at the bottom to make way for a pair of black boots. And on top of this, he was wearing a bow-tie. Why? Because bow-ties were cool.

Following him was a younger-looking Scottish girl in a jacket and jeans, with long, titian hair that went down her back.

'Here we are, Pond! The year is 2015, Avatar 2 has just been released—I've seen it twice, actually, once in 3D and once without, not very good in 2D, they could have possibly done without the bit narrated by Morgan Freeman, but no matter—there's also this great restaurant I know in Brighton, or was it Brixton, that will do fish fingers with custard if you ask nicely, they even gave me crayons and a kid's menu, and I completed the maze in just ten min—'

'Doctor...'

'—yes?'

'Are you sure we're in the UK?'

'Of course I'm sure we're in the UK, I've landed there hundreds of times. Except for those thousands of times I didn't. Trust me, getting to Heathrow Airport in that thing is a nightmare.'

'So we're not in the UK?'

'Well, let's see.' the young-looking man, whose name was not known, but referred to himself as "The Doctor", proceeded to go right down to the floor and lick it.

'Hm. So I can still do that trick.'

'Doctor, why did you just lick the floor?'

'Let's see, there's a faint taste of iron in the air, the floor tastes of sushi, I can also taste a heightened amount of Hello Kitty merchandise...yeah, we're in Japan.'

'Japan? We're on the other side of the world?'

'Well, not literally.'

'Doctor!'

'Well, wait, hang on, I haven't confirmed it yet. The old Gallifreyan tongue might be a bit rusty. You don't know these th—'

The Doctor promptly spotted a large map of Japan at the end of the corridor with a red sign pointing at the Hakone region reading "YOU ARE HERE". 'Ah. Right. Okay.'

'So, we're in Japan? Can't you just back up the TARDIS a few thousand miles?'

'Calm down, Amy. Japan isn't so bad. We can stay for a little while. Besides, the UK isn't that exciting.'

'Well...I...yeah, you're right.'

'Good. I like being right.'

'Let me get my bearings...where _exactly_ are we?'

'According to that map, Hakone, a delightful little town in the Ashigarashimo District in the Kanagawa Prefecture. We appear to be underground.'

'There's underground tunnels in Japan now?'

'A lot can happen in five years, Amy. Especially in Japan. Besides, it's probably just a "Staff Only" area of some bullet train station. I'm sure we'll find our way out. What are they going to do, shoot us?'

With that, the sound of running footsteps came around the corner, and a lot of men holding guns pointed them at the two, who quickly raised their arms.

'Me and my big mouth.'

'Wait...maybe I can negotiate. I think I know a little bit of Japanese.'

'No, Pond, don't.'

In a very over-exaggerated and hammy fashion, Amy suddenly cried out in Japanese.

'Konnichiwa! Um...Sayonara? Arigato?'

'Why is she speaking English?'

'What? I wasn't—'

'The TARDIS translates whatever you say. That means backwards and forwards. Just speak normally!'

'What business do you have here?' asked one of the troops.

'Erm, yes, we're missing our train, it's supposed to leave in one minute,' The Doctor improvised.

The Doctor noticed that the troops did not look like normal Japanese soldiers, who dressed in khaki. Rather, they were wearing a beige uniform with scarlet shoulder-pads and red berets. Had there been a change in uniform design in the time between 2010 and 2015?

'Train?' asked one of the men. 'There are no trains here.'

'Really? Oh, well, we're very, very lost. We're just a pair of tourists, is all.'

'You sure speak good Japanese for a pair of tourists.'

'Oh, well, you know. We've been practising.'

'That's besides the point!' shouted one of the troops, who was obviously the young upstart, pointing the gun right at The Doctor's face. 'We noticed a disturbance in this corridor. You had us all worried! You'd better give a good reason for being here before I execute you!'

'That's a Steyr MPi 69, isn't it?'

'Why does it even matter?'

'Just wondering.'

'Okay, wiseguy. Don't play dumb with me. What's your name?'

'Oh, er. The Doctor. Just "The Doctor".'

'Doctor who?'

'Oh, no, no. That's a popular misconception.'

He pointed his gun at Amy. 'And you, kid?'

'Kid?' Amy said. 'You look younger than me! Your hat's not even on properly. Is that gun even loaded? How old are you?'

'Er, 19, ma'am.'

'I'm 21. Don't call me "kid", kid.'

'Yes, ma'am.' The soldier paused, then narrowed his eyes. 'If you don't mind me asking, are you related to one of the pilots?'

'Pilots?'

'It's just that you have red hair, so I thought you might be related...I mean, she's in Germany at the moment, so I thought it was a little off that you...'

'All right, that's enough,' the Doctor said. 'Where exactly are we?'

'That's not for you to know, Mr. No-name.'

'That's DOCTOR No-name to you, Sonny Jim. So, we're obviously intruding. We'll just be on our way, then.'

'Uh, can't let you do that sir.'

'What?'

'It's the rules. We could take you to a superior.'

'That would be nice,' the Doctor said. The men turned and the Doctor and Amy followed.

'So...is this a military base?'

'Sorry sir, can't tell you anything.'

'Hmph. I hate it when I can't know things. I like knowing things.'

'Don't shoot the messenger, sir.' The soldier turned. 'You can put your hands down, by the way.'

'Oh, thank God,' Amy said. 'My arms fell asleep.'

'Sorry about that.'

The men went round the corner, past the large Japan map, and bundled on to an elevator. The Doctor and Amy followed eagerly.

The elevator rose for what felt like an era. The only sound was that of the clicking of the floor-marker as it gradually went up and up to whichever floor this 'superior' was on. Finally, the bell on the elevator went 'ding', and the soldiers pushed The Doctor and Amy out of the elevator.

'Ow, hey, keep your hands to yourself,' Amy said.

'So, who's this "superior" we're talking to, then?' The Doctor asked, only to turn and see a woman, slightly shorter than him, with distinctly purplish-black hair looking up at him. Her face was filled with contempt. The Doctor, ever the one to blissfully ignore things like this, thrust out a hand with a smile. 'Hello, I'm the Doctor.'

She didn't grip his hand.

'What are you doing here?'

'Well, it's a funny story, really, see, I was _supposed_ to go to the United Kingdom, but I ended up here instead.'

'The United Kingdom? You realise that place has been mostly underwater ever since 2000, right?'

'What?'

'How the hell did you even confuse Japan with Great Britain?'

'Never mind that,' The Doctor said. 'Underwater? Underwater how?'

'You don't remember? How do you not remember? Don't play the "amnesia" card with me, pal.'

'Remember what?'

She grabbed him by the bow tie. 'You remember, don't you? The Second Impact.'

'Ma'am...I'm afraid I don't understand. Honestly. I don't. But I'd like an explanation, please.'

'Come with me,' the woman said, and the Doctor followed. Amy was left with the soldiers. She suddenly became aware that almost everyone was staring at her, except a couple of men who just seemed to be gazing down blindly, barely even noticing she was there. She sighed loudly.

_Something tells me we're not getting out of here any time soon_, she thought to herself_..._

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><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>


	3. Rude Welcome

**Chapter III**

**Rude Welcome**

The Doctor woke up with a start. The first thing he noticed was that his head hurt. The next thing he noticed was that it was dark. The third thing he noticed was that his head really, really hurt. Oh, and also the fact that his hands were bound together. There was that as well. The Doctor was apparently sitting on something, the Doctor guessed a metal chair of some kind from how uncomfortable it was.

Guessing from the fact he was in a dark room with a headache bound to a chair, the Doctor used his vast intelligence to infer that he'd probably done something he shouldn't have. He was now faced with the conflict of opening his mouth and finding out exactly where he was, or opening his mouth and getting hit on the head again.

Still, the Doctor had been forced to suffer the pain of having every cell in his body rewritten eleven times already, so he felt the wisest thing to do was open his mouth.

'Ughhhelloisanybodytherrr...' he slurred. He was pretty sure that wasn't what was supposed to come out.

'Oh good, you're awake,' a voice said from the shadows. The lights came on, and The Doctor squinted. It was that bright kind of light that when shone at you from in the the dark causes your very irises to cramp. The Doctor was no exception, and his eyes began to water with the strain.

'Have a nice nap?' the voice said. The voice was becoming ever the more familiar.

'Not really,' The Doctor said. 'How did I get here?'

And a familiar face stepped forwards. The purplish-haired woman peered down at The Doctor as if he were scum on her shoe.

'Right,' she said. 'We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I just have one question. If you answer it truthfully, then I will make your prison sentence as short as I can. If you don't, then you will be executed.'

'Okay,' the Doctor said, strangely unfazed by the death threat.

'My question is this. Who the hell are you working for?'

The Doctor paused. He knew very well that the least wise thing to say in this situation was "Me, I'm a freelance."

'Me. I'm a freelance.'

'Bull,' the woman said, slapping him, sending The Doctor's brain rattling around his skull. 'I didn't knock you out and keep you locked up in here for eight hours to hear that. Cut the crap. Who are you working for?'

'Nobody.'

'Nobody, huh. So you expect me to believe that you came in here, set off all our security alerts, wasted our time, and took me OFF my morning break, because you are little more than a tourist?'

'Pretty much, yeah.'

'Okay, tell me this, mister. Why do you expect me to believe that?'

The Doctor looked up. 'Well, first of all, it's "Doctor", not "Mister", and secondly, because I'm sure you're a loving and caring person who in the sense of traditional Japanese sensibility will accept I'm being honest and send me merrily on my way.'

'That's not how we do things nowadays, "Doctor". After the Second Impact, everything changed over here. But you already knew that, didn't you?'

'Actually, no. You keep throwing around words like "Second Impact" and I haven't the foggiest idea what you mean.'

The woman suddenly grabbed him by the tie again. 'Don't you dare lie like that. I can stand your lies about being a spy, but to actually deny knowing what one of the worst disasters in recent history is...you're one sick bastard.'

'So, this was a disaster, this "Second Impact"? What happened?'

'You're playing dumb again,' the woman said, withdrawing, tears welling up. 'Don't...do that...' She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. The Doctor's eyes had finally adjusted. The woman sunk into a seat near The Doctor. She tried her best to disguise the fact she was weeping.

The Doctor watched for a few moments, unsure of what to do. He coughed. 'I'm...I'm sorry,' he said. 'Did you...lose someone in the disaster?'

'We all did,' the woman said. 'We all did. Friends, relatives...partners.' She suddenly became angry again. 'But why am I telling you this? You're just a lowlife scumbag making a profit by spying on us!'

'No, I'm not,' The Doctor said. 'I can genuinely help.'

'No you can't!' the woman cried, kicking the seat over and breathing heavily.

'You're...scared of me, aren't you?' The Doctor asked, flinching at what he felt was probably an inevitable flying kick to the jaw. When he realised there was no foot or leg flying at him, he opened his eyes.

The woman stood with her back to him for a moment. Then she turned around and looked at him. 'I'm not scared of anything,' she said. 'But you...you remind me...in one way...of an aspect of someone I once knew...and...and...' she sighed. '...and that scares me.'

The Doctor nodded. 'That's okay. We're all scared of something. Even me. And I've seen things you wouldn't believe.'

The woman looked up. 'So, who are you?'

'Me?' The Doctor asked. 'I'm a traveller. I travel. Clue's in the name, really. Well, actually, there's more than that. I travel and I save the world. Doesn't matter where I am, what I do. I save the world. It's not really a "job", I suppose it's just that I find it...fun? No...it's where I feel I do best.'

The Doctor hesitated. 'But right now, I'm stuck in a chair, in Japan, in Hakone, with a woman who just knocked me out cold, with as much time in the world as I can afford...and what I want to know, right now, is what happened here.'

The woman stopped. She picked the chair back up, sat down, and began her story.

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><p>Amy huffed in frustration. She had been left sitting in a dark cell with nobody for company for what must have been hours now. Not even the blessing of sleep could help her, for the bed was hard and smelled funny. It didn't help that her watch had stopped, so she had lost track of time. What was taking The Doctor so long?<p>

Her belly gurgled for something, anything that might offer it a bit of sustenance. All the guards had left her was a bit of dry bread, and that had been quite unpleasant. Were they allowed to treat people like this? Surely not. Wasn't this Japan? People were supposed to be hospitable here, weren't they?

Amy grunted as she rolled over on the hard mattress. She wasn't trying to sleep, she was just trying to find something more comfortable than the hard, concrete floor. She was fast beginning to regret asking The Doctor to show her what life would be like in five years' time. Her belly rumbled again with a noise not entirely unlike a motor engine made out of rubber.

She grumbled in annoyance and rolled over once again. It took Amy a few seconds to register what she saw. A young girl, perhaps a few years younger than her, staring at her. Amy blinked. There was something a little...off...about her. She checked the door to see if it had been opened. No, still locked. She turned back. The girl was gone.

Amy shuddered. Perhaps being alone for so long was making her go crazy. Amy hated loneliness. She just wanted to get up and go somewhere, but she couldn't. Amy gave up, rolled back over, and tried hopelessly to get some sleep.

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><p>My name is Captain Misato Katsuragi. I was born on the eighth of December, 1986. I am twenty-nine years of age. And fifteen years ago, I survived the end of the world. I guess I was pretty young and naïve at the time. I didn't know what was going on. I was just a dumb kid. But I came along because I wanted to get closer to my father. My father. How I hate him. But I love him at the same time, you see. Just thinking about him fills me with so many emotions and ideas. That's why I was crying just then. You're smart, like I imagined he was. But I digress.<p>

My father led an expedition into Antarctica, where something was being kept, but he wouldn't tell me what. My father didn't talk much. And he went to work that day really excited. I saw him smile for the first time in what felt like an age...he said he was going to save us all and give us a brighter tomorrow. I don't know what he meant by that. And then...

I don't really know what happened. But what I do know is that I'm the only person to have come out of the Second Impact alive. What is the Second Impact, you ask? Well, it's the accident that my father caused. Long story short, everyone died. There was an explosion, and it killed everyone. My father saved my life and was killed by some kind of a shockwave. When I emerged from the escape pod he put me in, it was over.

Antarctica was gone. Melted instantly. Three billion people, that is, half the world population, died within instants. Many countries disappeared under the water, the UK being one of them. And I was one of the lucky few who got to climb out of the rubble of this world and into a new age. And then they took me away and I spent some time in a mental rehab centre. I don't remember it much. Too many painful memories. I just remember the day they let me out. Bliss. And now I'm here. And it feels good.

But this world is still not safe, Doctor. And we need help. We really do. And Doctor, I have a feeling that you're the one that can help save us. Help us, Doctor. Save us. Please. You say you've saved many worlds, Doctor. I don't even know who you are, but I know you can help. Please, Doctor. Save us. Save our world.

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><p>The Doctor sat and listened calmly to every moment of the story. He paused thoughtfully for a moment. 'Thank you,' he said. 'May I ask politely, which year is this?'<p>

'2015,' The woman, who the Doctor now knew to be called Misato, replied.

'So the Second Impact you speak of happened in 2000...' The Doctor was confused. This just didn't add up. The 2015 he knew was much different to this one. And while the Doctor really wanted to know what was really going on, he felt an obligation to help, as the benevolent and sentient being he was.

'Right then,' the Doctor said cheerfully. 'Well, I have more of an idea what's going on, but I want to help you out. Now, if you could just let me out of these cuffs.'

'Sorry, can't do that,' Misato said. 'I'd lose my job. You're coming with me. I'll take the cuffs off once we get back to Central Dogma.'

'Ooh, that's a fancy name,' The Doctor said. 'It makes no sense, but it's fancy.'

'Um...thanks,' Misato replied. He was weird, yes, but she just had a feeling that this was the man who could save them.

* * *

><p><em>RAT-A-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP!<em>

Amy flew out of her bed and hovered for a moment before coming crashing to the ground. Coccyx now bruised, she staggered up. Her feet made _pit-pat_ noises as she wandered over to get her boots and socks. The guard rudely opened the door.

'Your friend's waiting for ya,' he grunted, before leaving her to her own devices.

She must have dozed off, because it didn't seem long ago she had been laying in bed with a grumbling tummy. Still, at least she'd perhaps be able to get out of this hell-hole and get on the road to real adventure.

Amy left the room and went off down the corridor.

'Afternoon, sleepyhead,' The Doctor said, with a grin.

'Shut up, you,' Amy responded. 'You all sorted out?'

'Yep!' The Doctor said. 'We're going to stay here a while. These people need help, and while I'm not entirely sure why, I think I'd like to stop by here for a bit.'

Amy tried to fake a smile. 'Great!'

The Doctor noticed. 'We still have the TARDIS,' he said. Then he turned to Misato. 'Right, so, would you like to do the honour of introducing me to everyone? And you still haven't told me where I actually am.'

_VWEE-RP_! _VWEE-RP_!

'Something has just been detected approaching Tokyo-3! Pattern blue!' shouted a young, bespectacled lieutenant. 'Angel attack!'

Misato smiled in a darkly-humorous manner, and turned to The Doctor.

'Welcome to NERV,' she said.

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><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>


	4. The Fourth Angel

**_Author's note: _**The _Neon Genesis Evangelion _continuity has been altered for this story. In the original timeline, The Fourth Angel attack took place three weeks after the attack of the Third. In this, it takes place only a few days later, to keep the story moving. Be warned that this may happen a few times in this story, so try not to associate it too much with the original _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ canon.

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><p><strong>Chapter IV<strong>

**The Fourth Angel**

Shinji Ikari, the reluctant Third Child at NERV Headquarters, was in no mood for an angel attack. His black eye still throbbed from the punch that had been thrown at him earlier that day by a jock in his class, whose sister he had accidentally crushed unknowingly a while ago. Now Shinji felt guilty. He knew he hadn't meant it, but it had really hit home as to how easily he could hurt people.

And now he had been told to come along immediately by Rei Ayanami, his co-pilot, and he just knew that today was not going to be a good day. Still, there was little else he was going to do with his life, so he did what he supposed was the "noble" thing, and followed orders. It was all he could do, really...

* * *

><p>Misato hurried up to an elevator to get to the part of the bridge nearing the highest part, with the Doctor and Amy in pursuit.<p>

'Excuse me,' The Doctor said, 'But did that young man just say there was an "Angel" attacking?'

'Yes, he did.'

'Well, what's that? A kind of ballistic missile codename?' Amy said. 'I thought Angels were supposed to be all—' She put her hands together as if to mimic a cherub of some kind.

'Wait,' The Doctor said. 'What do these Angels look like? Are they made of stone?'

'Stone?' Misato said. 'These are creatures of flesh. We don't know what they are or where they came from, but what we do know is that they are our enemy, and that they will use any means necessary to destroy us.'

'Kind of like Godzilla,' The Doctor remarked, tactlessly. When Misato gave him a funny look, he realised what he had said and looked down. 'Sorry.'

The elevator arrived at the topmost point.

'Right, what's the situation?' Misato said, flipping almost instantly into a commanding position.

'Angel is currently at an altitude of 300 feet, and is at least 100 kilometres from main land,' a male technician with shoulder-length hair replied.

'Ritsuko, how are the pilots?'

'First and Third Child are ready to g—' Ritsuko began. 'What are they doing here?'

'They're here to help,' Misato said, with as much cheer as she could manage.

'If the Commander finds out you're keeping civilians here to watch an Angel attack, he will fire you. You don't want to lose your job at a time like—'

'Captain Katsuragi,' a voice menacingly uttered from above. 'This is not a time to keep civilians here for their childish amusement. This is a deadly situation. What are they doing in Central Dogma?' Up above sat a man wearing white gloves and orange-tinted glasses, with an elderly-looking man standing beside him.

'Commander Ikari, sir, I think they can help.'

'Help, Captain Katsuragi? This is a military operation. Civilians can help little here. Get them out of my sight.'

'Angel is currently at fifty kilometres!' cried one of the lieutenants.

The Doctor suddenly popped up from behind Commander Ikari's seat.

'Hello, I'm the Doctor!'

The man standing next to him was taken quite aback, as Ikari actually yelped in surprise, before regaining in composure. The Doctor offered up a hand to shake.

Ikari, much like Misato before, refused to grip it.

'How the hell did he get up here? Get him away from me!'

'Now now,' The Doctor said. 'Let's not be so hasty. I'm a doctor. Now, as far as I can tell, the lovely lady over there with the bleached-blonde hair and the labcoat, what was her name? Ritsuko, that was it, would also appear to be a doctor. So, let's think for a bit. Two doctors, means twice the brains, means, I can help you defeat this...thing.' Ritsuko gave him a funny look much similar to that of Misato.

'We have visual on the Angel! Now at 25 kilometres!'

On the screen appeared the Angel. It had a big, almost triangular head with two large markings resembling eyes, and a long body. It looked like a big, flying slug that slithered through the air like a snake.'

The Commander thought for a moment. 'I'll deal with you afterwards. Send out EVA Unit-01 immediately!'

Misato turned. 'Shinji, can you hear me?'

'Yes, Misato,' came the response.

'All right, Shinji, just remember what you did last battle. Defeat the Angel. Rei will provide backup in Unit-00. Rei, did you get that?'

A small voice replied, 'Yes.'

'Good. Evangelions, move out!'

'Evangelion?' The Doctor said. 'That's Greek, isn't it? It means "gospel", or "good news".'

'It's also the thing that will save mankind from destruction,' Ikari responded. 'And everything you see here today, you are going to forget, or I will personally have you killed.'

'Why? What is this "Evangelion"? An experimental fighter plane of some kind?'

The visual onscreen changed to a large, vaguely-human figure, except with a very long torso. It wore purple and green-coloured armour.

'Angel is over the city! It's descending! Two hundred feet! One hundred feet! Fifty feet! Ten feet! The Angel has made contact!'

'Shinji, attack!'

The human-like figure grabbed a gun that must have been the size of a small skyscraper, firing off round after round at the Angel, over and over again, creating more and more dust and smoke.

'Shinji, stop firing! You're going to—'

Two glowing tentacles writhed out of the smoke like demonic eels, slicing the gun to pieces. The figure was driven back by the creature's attack, diving behind several buildings. The tentacles decimated the buildings. A sudden beeping noise was heard.

'We've lost umbilical power!' cried out a lieutenant. 'Only a few minutes of power left!' The tentacles reached out and clenched round the figure's leg, lifting it up and throwing it high up and into a nearby mountain. Over the radio came a yell of terror from the pilot, "Shinji", as the Doctor knew he was called, as the creature went flying through the air, colliding with the mountain with a crash.

The camera changed angle to show the massive figure's landing spot.

'My God, is that...' Misato mumbled, focusing the camera in on the creature's fingers. Near them were two young boys, who appeared terrified out of their minds.

'What the hell are they doing there?'

'Shinji, let them into the Entry Plug!'

'Yes, Misato.'

The creature's neck opened to allow the two boys in, and then shut again to allow Shinji to begin piloting again.

The Angel advanced, tentacles writhing as it prepared for a final attack.

'Shinji, retreat!' Misato cried. 'That's an order!'

'NO!' came the shout of defiance, as the creature launched a knife and plunged it deep into the Angel's breast. Sparks flew as the Angel shoved its tentacles through the figure's chest. Over the radio came a horribly pained scream. Amy cried out and covered her eyes in fear. She didn't even know the pilot, but she was worried for him.

The Doctor listened carefully as the creature's knife continued cutting into the core, sparking ever the more violently, the scream becoming more intense with every passing moment.

'Shinji, get out of there!' Misato cried, as the burning tentacles cut through the flesh with staggering precision and ease, a deadly embrace.

The Doctor suddenly turned to Ikari. 'That's not the scream of an adult. That's a boy. You've sent a boy to tackle an invading extraterrestrial species?'

'You know, Doctor, they always say "Never send a boy to do a man's job"—but in this case we have no choice but to make an exception to that rule.'

The scream ended as the clock ran to zero. Everyone turned to the screen. The Angel's tentacles stopped writhing hideously, turning into black solids, like coal, drooping like dead plant matter. The creature's life was gone from it, and it was dead.

Misato swallowed. 'Status report on the pilot?'

'Pilot's life signs appear normal,' a young woman dressed the same as the other two lieutenants, with short-cropped hair said.

'He didn't retreat when I told him to. Idiot, he could have got himself _killed_,' Misato said. 'I'm going to have a word or two with him when he gets back, how dare he disobey me like th—'

Misato stopped when she noticed Amy looking at her. 'What?'

'He just survived battling an alien, and you want to tell him off for disobeying an order? He saved your life. Is that what you do these days? Take and never give back?'

'He came here knowing he is required to be obedient to orders—'

'And if he had followed the order, you would probably be dead.' The reality hit Amy. 'And so would I. Your orders nearly got all of us killed!'

This was met with a quick slap from Misato. 'Don't you dare tell me how to do my job.' The Doctor winced.

'That's quite enough, Captain Katsuragi!' Ikari cried out. He turned to The Doctor. 'Get out of here. You've disrupted one of my operations. You shall not disrupt any more.'

'I didn't do a thing,' The Doctor said. 'I was merely an observer.'

'Get _out_ of my sight,' Ikari emphasised, presumably gritting his teeth as he covered his mouth with his gloves.

The Doctor realised this was probably a battle he couldn't win.

'Okay, Commander. Take care. Goodbye.'

He stepped over to the elevator and descended.

'Doctor!' Amy said. 'These people need our help!'

'Evidently not,' The Doctor replied. 'They can fend for themselves.'

'Doctor!'

'Come on, Amy, we're going back to the TARDIS.'

* * *

><p>The elevator finally stopped in one of the corridors. The Doctor made his way down the corridor to the TARDIS.<p>

'Doctor, what if there's more of those Angels? What if next time, they don't get so lucky?'

'Well, that's their decision,' The Doctor said. 'And to be honest, even though this is most definitely not the 2015 I know, and I don't know how I got here, I certainly know that it's a farce. So we're leaving. I never did understand humans. Give them power, and they don't want your help.'

The Doctor unlocked the door. 'How strange,' he remarked. 'The light in the sign isn't on.' Suddenly, his eyes widened. 'The light in the sign isn't on!'

He fumbled with the key in the lock, and opened the door. It was dark inside the TARDIS.

'Oh no,' he said. 'No, no, no, this is bad. This is very bad.'

The TARDIS wasn't softly "breathing" as it usually did. There was an eerie quiet. The central column did not move, and the control panel was not lit up. All the lights were off.

'Doctor? Doctor, what's happened?'

'No!' The Doctor shouted, taking a mallet and bashing the control panel futilely, hoping desperately there would be some reaction.

'Doctor?'

'Of_ COURSE_!' the Doctor yelled, clutching his forehead. 'How could I have been so stupid?'

'What?'

'Amy, there's a reason, a very good reason, that this isn't like the 2015 I know.'

'I don't understand, Doctor.'

'This isn't the 2015 I know. It's an alternate reality. Another possibility. A...parallel universe.'

'Right...'

'The TARDIS only functions within your universe. But there's usually some kind of explosion associated with crossing universal boundaries, so I don't even know how...'

'Do you mean to say we might never get out of here?'

The Doctor paused. '...yes. Yes, Amy. That's right.'

Amy covered her mouth. 'We're trapped...?'

The Doctor nodded. 'Yeah.' He looked up at the dead column. 'Yeah.'

* * *

><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>


	5. I Cannot Run Away

**Chapter V**

**I Cannot Run Away**

'Well, Shinji? What have you got to say for yourself?'

Shinji stayed motionless. The verbal onslaught that had been dealt to him for the past ten minutes was now feeling more like distant memory. He defeated the Angel, didn't he? Surely if he had retreated everyone would have died? 'Answer me, Shinji.'

'Huh? Yeah.'

'That's not the answer I'm looking for.'

Shinji lowered his head. 'Sorry, Misato.'

'Sorry what?'

'Sorry for disobeying your orders, Misato.'

'Good. I don't like having to treat you like this, Shinji. Next time I give you an order, you follow it. Okay?'

Shinji thought for a moment. 'Misato...what if I followed your order? Wouldn't we have died?'

'No, we would have sent Rei out as backup, see?'

'But, Misato...what if Rei hadn't managed it? She's barely out of the hospital.'

Misato frowned.

'Just follow my orders next time, okay, Shinji?'

Shinji's head lowered again. 'Okay.'

Shinji stood up and left, school uniform back on, satchel draped over his shoulder. 'See you back home, Misato.' One might have thought it was a teacher telling off a student, not a superior in a paramilitary organisation reprimanding an employee.

The door hissed shut as he made his way out.

"_...wouldn't we have died?_"

Just like the girl said. Perhaps she shouldn't have been so hard on him. Poor guy. After all he'd been through...then again, orders were orders. Commander Ikari would not have taken kindly to going soft on him.

Misato tried to keep it out of her mind. She left the room with haste.

* * *

><p>As the door hissed shut behind him, Shinji felt a wash of conflict come over him like ice-water. Misato had just stood there and thrown rebuke after rebuke after rebuke at him. And it wasn't even like he'd done anything beyond refusing her order. As it turned out, one of the two guys he saved was, in fact, the jock who had given him the black eye.<p>

He'd saved him, he'd saved Misato, he'd saved everyone, and all she did was yell. Perhaps he should just run away. Piloting Eva was taking its toll, anyway. He was already finding it hard to sleep at night. Yeah, perhaps he could just run as far away as possible. All it would take would be boarding the next train out of Tokyo-3. Yeah, that's what he'd—

Shinji's thoughts of desertion were quickly interrupted by his being flattened by a man in a strange old jacket, kind of like the ones he'd seen British people wearing in the pre-Second Impact times in class. He also appeared to be wearing a bow-tie. The man stood up.

'Sorry about that,' he said, holding out a hand. 'Hello, I'm the Doctor.'

Shinji took his hand to get up, and it then turned into a handshake. 'Yes!' the "Doctor" said. 'You're the first person to have shaken my hand here!' He ruffled Shinji's hair.

'Aren't you a little old to be acting like that?' Shinji asked. The Doctor replied, 'Aren't you a little young to be talking to me like that?'

The Doctor suddenly stopped. He looked down at the boy. 'Wait,' he said. 'What's your name?'

'Shinji Ikari,' Shinji answered, confused.

'Shinji...' The Doctor said. 'I remember you. You're the one that was just in that fight with the Angel, is that correct?'

Shinji nodded once.

'Haven't they debriefed you or anything?'

'Well, if you consider being yelled at by your guardian a "debriefing",' Shinji answered.

The Doctor sighed. 'This Second Impact hasn't changed you lot a bit.'

Shinji looked down. 'I'm thinking of running away.'

The Doctor grinned a bit. 'Aren't we all,' he mumbled. 'I tell you, the amount of times I've felt like just running away you wouldn't believe. But I stuck fast. And sticking fast, Shinji, is a dangerous thing. It can make you or break you. But right now, I believe it's in your hands as to whether you want to run away or not. But why should you take my word for it? I'm just some random guy who showed up out of nowhere and knocked you down. Still, advice is advice, eh?'

A red-headed girl ran up behind The Doctor.

'Doctor, have you got the spanner you were looking for yet?'

'Not yet, Pond,' he mumbled. 'Hey, I wonder if that woman in the labcoat in Central Canon-Apostolo Thingy or whatever they call it would give me one.'

'Ritsuko?' Shinji asked.

'Ritsuko, that's it,' The Doctor said. 'Thanks, Shinji. See you around. Maybe. Probably.'

With that, he and the red-headed girl, "Pond", were gone.

Shinji moved a couple of fingers on his right hand, then looked from right to left.

'What just happened?'

* * *

><p>'Dr. Akagi, the scan of the corridor in which the intruders were first found has been completed...well, this is strange.'<p>

Ritsuko Akagi took a look at the data on coworker Lieutenant Maya Ibuki's screen. Most things checked out, aside from the AT Field Resonance Scan, a measurement of AT Field background residual energy, which had some startlingly anomalous results.

'Everything else is fine apart from this one result,' Lieutenant Ibuki said. 'I've mapped it on to a line graph, and it shows that somewhere in the corridor there's some kind of missing field, like an invisible patch. I've even stripped off all the outliers, and still, no change. I even put them through MAGI, and even that has confirmed a 100% certainty of an AT Field anomaly.'

'Right,' Ritsuko mumbled. 'Try mapping all signatures to a corridor model, then show me the results in real-time.'

'Yes, ma'am,' the young lieutenant replied, hands moving quickly and efficiently over the keys of her computer. She hit the "Enter" key.

'Even with this computing power, it's going to take a few minutes,' Ibuki explained. 'I'll call you when it's done.'

'Good, Maya.'

Suddenly, a hiss came from across the room as a door opened. Out stepped a man in a tweed jacket with a bow-tie and suspenders.

'Ah, Ritsuko, just the woman I'm looking for.'

Ritsuko stopped dead in her tracks. The man came up to her. 'Right, I've already got one person to shake my hand today, I don't think I need to try again with someone like you.'

'What the hell are you doing back here? You were supposed to leave here!'

'Well, it's a funny story, really,' The Doctor said. 'You see...'

'Dr. Akagi! The model's done!' called out Lieutenant Ibuki, as Ritsuko turned to the screen.

'What the...'

There was a a green dot for every single factor of above-0.001% AT Field energy plotted out against the model. Or, in layman's terms, there were dots that formed the shape of the room when they detected what kind of AT Field energy was found in there.

But the worrying thing was, there was a small section where all that appeared to be was a blank space in a cuboid shape, that ended with a kind of flattened pyramid, on top of which sat a cylinder. It was an incredibly specific shape that could only correspond to one thing: An object in the corridor, totally free from or reflective of AT Fields.

'Well, that's not right,' Ritsuko understated, sipping from a cup of coffee. 'Are you sure this is definitely correct?'

'Definitely, Dr. Akagi.'

'Ahaha!' The Doctor said. 'I was right, you are a doctor!'

'What are you still doing here?' Ritsuko asked.

'Well, you see, I came here for a spanner. I was wondering if you had any.'

'Spanners, Doctor? What would you need a spanner for? Just take the exit.'

'Um, well...I...'

'Doctor?' Amy called, entering into the room as well.

'Look, do you or don't you have a spanner?'

'I have a spanner,' a NERV technician, in red uniform and a red cap, called out.

'Ah, magnifique,' The Doctor said, dashing over like an excited little boy and taking the spanner from the man.

The Doctor paused. He put the spanner back in the toolbox and picked up the box. 'Mind if I borrow this?'

'Kinda,' the technician replied.

'I'll get you a new one if I break it.' The Doctor winked, and then walked off with the box.

The Doctor walked past Ritsuko as Amy finally caught up with him. Ritsuko stopped him.

'What the hell is wrong with you?' she asked, exasperated. 'I'm telling you, you're lucky the Commander is at work in his office at the moment, or he'd have skinned you alive.'

'Well, it's a good job he's not here, then,' the Doctor replied, with a childish grin.

'Is this just a game to you?' Ritsuko asked.

'No,' the Doctor replied. 'I'm just trying not to mope.' With that, he moved swiftly out of the room. Amy sighed. He was all over the place today.

* * *

><p>The Doctor and Amy made their way back to the elevator, and travelled back down to the TARDIS.<p>

'It's an awful shame I can't use my sonic screwdriver. TARDIS technology, you see. Totally useless.'

'Doctor...' Amy said. 'I've been thinking.'

'Really? About what?'

'We just witnessed a giant robot fight a flying slug-squid. Now, I'll admit, I've already seen some pretty weird stuff, Prisoner Zero, for instance, but come on, why are we just ignoring that?'

'Because, Pond,' The Doctor pondered for a moment, 'They don't want our help, and they'll probably shoot us if we don't get out of here ASAP.'

'But, Doctor...'

'Look, the charming Captain Katsuragi was eager for my help, but I'm afraid that the commander of this place just doesn't need me here. And manners are manners, Amy. You have to respect others' wishes.'

The Doctor stepped out of the elevator. He paused. There at the end of the corridor, where the TARDIS was...

...she stood.

Pale skin, light, almost cyan hair. She was dressed in sailor fuku, Japanese school uniform. She stood and she looked up at the blue box. Slowly, delicately, she put her hand on the box.

The Doctor blinked.

She was gone.

'What is it?' Amy asked.

'Um...nothing...I...' The Doctor shook his head. 'I should get to work.'

He walked along down the corridor and stepped into the TARDIS, ready to get to work.

* * *

><p>'Dr. Akagi!' Maya suddenly called out. 'Quickly, come and look at this!'<p>

Ritsuko ran over. 'What now, Maya?'

'I decided to do another resonance test just to check out our results...then I mapped some of them to the corridor model again...'

The model developed in to two disturbingly familiar shapes along with the cuboid.

They were human-shaped.

Perfectly human-shaped.

Two black spaces with green dots surrounding them.

Ritsuko put her glasses on to check what she was looking at.

'That's...that's impossible. You can't have living beings without an AT Field. That's impossible.'

She ran over to the elevator.

'I'm going down there. Cover for me, Maya.'

'Okay, Dr. Akagi...'

The elevator doors shut in front of Ritsuko's face. Everything became silent.

_What are they?_

* * *

><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's note: <em>**_My apologies if this seems like filler, as it most probably is. Don't worry, the action will pick up soon. See you in Chapter VI, folks._


	6. Impossible

**Chapter VI**

**Impossible**

_Click._

The door to the apartment came open with a soft sound. It was followed swiftly by the noise of two shoes being taken off and placed at the door. Misato entered the room slowly, tip-toeing down the hallway. She slunk through the kitchen, trying not to bump into anything, then through the living room. Turning right, she moved quietly down the hallway in the corner of the room, where there was a door. She knocked. She wasn't expecting an answer.

She opened the door.

To her surprise, there lay Shinji, in his bed.

'Shinji?'

Shinji sat bolt upright. 'Ahh!' Two earpieces popped out of his ears. 'Misato?'

'Shinji...'

'What is it?'

'It's just that...I expected...' she sighed. 'I guess I'm sorry for what I said earlier. Yeah, I'm pretty upset that you disobeyed me, but I'm glad you did. You saved us all, Shinji. And I'm sorry that I forgot that.'

Shinji sat quietly for a second. 'Thanks...Misato.'

Misato grunted acknowledgingly, and closed the door. She went to her bedroom, moving quickly across the living room.

_I thought he might run away_, she thought. _But he didn't._

* * *

><p>The elevator doors slid open. Ritsuko checked the pocket in her white coat. Her hand gripped around something metal. A five-chambered, 9x18mm Makarov single-action R-92 revolver. She only carried it when she needed to, and had just a few minutes ago slipped it into her pocket when she had seen those black, forbidding shapes on Lieutentant Maya Ibuki's screen.<p>

Of course, bullets would have no effect against an Angel's AT Field, but being as these people didn't appear to have one, at least in a sense detectable by NERV scanners, then they were probably more mortal than the average person. The gun was already loaded with five bullets. She was good to go in case anything went wrong.

Slowly, she walked down the corridor, checking all the time for movement. Her exact footsteps went in perfect time with her slowly-calculated eye movements. Her finger moved round the trigger...no. Not yet. Her finger relaxed. And then she spotted it.

It was a blue box, about the height of a man, with a sign written in English above it. Ritsuko attempted to read it out loud. She wasn't used to English. 'Police...Public...Call...Box.' Ha-ha! Those English tutor groups in university had been worth it! But what was this doing in Japan? Ritsuko put her hand on the handle. She pushed. It didn't budge. It was locked.

She knocked politely at the door. Funny thing to do, really, when one was at great risk of being killed. She heard a noise from inside. Then, suddenly, a familiar voice, muffled, but audible.

'Um...who is it?'

She knew that voice! Him. It was him. Both of them were the ones with no AT Field. Just as she had suspected. But how were they alive? She knew well that for something to remain alive it had to have an AT Field.

Ritsuko cleared her throat. 'Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, Head of NERV Technical Branch.'

There was pause.

'Ritsuko! Hi there! Erm...now isn't a good time.'

'Why not?'

'Erm...we're doing something.'

'This is absurd...it's a little blue box, what could you possibly be doing in th—'

The door suddenly fell inwards, and Ritsuko hit the ground with a clang.

'Sorry,' the man from behind the door said. 'I, er, unlocked the door. I didn't realise you were holding the handle.'

Ritsuko stood up and rubbed her eyes. Her mouth fell agape.

'Wh...what is this...'

'What's what? Oh, right, yeah, the TARDIS.'

'It's...it's...'

'Go on, say it, I always love this bit.'

'It's bigger on the inside!'

'YES! I love that line!'

Ritsuko covered her mouth. 'But...how...this just doesn't add up...'

'Not everything has to,' the man from behind the door said. 'Now, how about anohdear.'

Ritsuko fainted in a matter of seconds.

* * *

><p>Shinji lay in his bed, thinking to himself. Misato said sorry. Did she really feel that bad? She said she was expecting something. What did she expect him to do? It was quiet now. The dead of night had fallen upon them. Only the faint sound of cicadas out of the window was the thing showing there was still life outside the room.<p>

He rewound track 25 on the tape in his SDAT player right back to the beginning, and played it again. Shinji felt odd. Different. It felt like d_éjà vu,_ as if he had somehow done this before. But it was different. Like he was doing something different to before. He didn't feel particularly tired. And that was odd for him, despite having come out of the hospital barely very long ago at all.

Misato. She was his guardian, and she loved him, but only in the sense of Storge, as far as he could see. He couldn't say the same for her. He wanted to feel a mutual love, yes, but he couldn't. He wasn't comfortable with feelings like that. But he supposed her company was nice enough, if a little hectic at times. She was like a mother, he guessed. But in other ways she wasn't. In some ways she was like a big sister, or at least, what Shinji supposed big sisters and little brothers were like. He really didn't know this kind of thing.

The Doctor. The man he had met in the corridor. He didn't know him. He wasn't Japanese, but he spoke it perfectly. He shook his hand. He told him not to run away. But differently. It wasn't usual, like Shinji's own personal mantra of "_I mustn't run away_". Shinji actually felt better for hearing it. He felt better for not running away, even though he also felt he should, because he was putting his life in danger. The red-haired girl with him. He wasn't used to red hair. Red hair was a new thing. Shinji actually thought it was quite...pretty.

Shinji decided to close off his thoughts for the night. He rolled over and went to sleep. A peaceful sleep. The first peaceful, unforced sleep he had had since getting there. Track 25 ended on his SDAT. Shinji pressed the "stop" button, and drifted off into a sleep.

* * *

><p>'Doctor? Doctor, she's waking up.'<p>

Ritsuko groaned. Her vision was blurry. Slowly, the freckled face of the girl from earlier came into view.

'Ah, good,' the Doctor said. 'Sorry about that, TARDIS thing catches most people out. Do you need to be sick?'

Ritsuko shook her head, which made her dizzy. She lurched for a moment. The Doctor took a bowl out just in case she was about to spew forth. She didn't.

'What is this?' Ritsuko asked. 'Who are you?'

'Right, you see, the thing is, I'm a time traveller, and this here,' he pointed to the girl with the freckles and the red hair, 'is my companion. Funny story, really. We travel through time. Oh, and we're also from a parallel universe, we ended up here, and, funnily enough, our world is different to yours! Isn't life just crazy?'

Ritsuko's head rolled about. 'You shouldn't exist here.'

'What do you mean?' the Doctor said. 'I've been to parallel universes before.'

'But you have no AT Field,' Ritsuko insisted. 'The AT Field is the wall that holds the soul in. Without it, your body cannot exist.'

'What do you mean?' the Doctor asked.

Ritsuko floppily put her hand into her other pocket and grabbed a PDA. She extracted it slowly, and showed it calmly to the Doctor. On the screen flashed the image Maya had produced earlier.

'The black shapes are you and this thing,' Ritsuko said.

The Doctor calmly gave her back the PDA.

'Of course. Of course! Of course of course of course of course of course of course of course, OF COURSE!'

The Doctor cracked his knuckles.

'What?' Ritsuko said, her head still swimming.

'No wonder the TARDIS doesn't work, and no wonder there was no explosion when we landed!'

'Why?' Amy asked.

'Because, Pond, and Akagi, the TARDIS only works with a certain set of physical laws. And these laws are very slightly different in this universe. These "AT Fields" you speak of must be the reason the TARDIS won't work. It's like being trapped in a block of ice.'

'That doesn't explain how you're still alive,' Ritsuko said.

'Well, that's simple. You see, we're tempered to the TARDIS because we've both been inside it. And the TARDIS exists outside of regular time and space, so, essentially, we're completely safe from the alteration in physical laws.'

'Right,' Ritsuko murmured. 'So, you're time travellers from another universe who are alive even though you shouldn't be...' She rubbed her forehead. 'Why do I get the feeling this isn't the craziest thing I'm ever going to see?'

'Well, it looks like we're stuck here for a while,' The Doctor said. 'At least, until I can figure out how to reconfigure this old thing.'

Ritsuko smiled a little bit.

'Well, Doctor,' she said. 'If I talk to the Commander, I could perhaps get you and Amy temporary placements here at NERV. You know, if you'd like.'

The Doctor looked at Amy. 'Sound like a plan, Pond?'

Amy thought for a moment, then huffed. She reluctantly nodded. 'Looks like it's my only choice.'

'Good. Erm, just one thing, do you mind taking me to see the big man himself? I think we got off on the wrong foot.'

'You certainly did,' Ritsuko said. 'Meet me here tomorrow morning, and I will take you to him.'

'Good,' the Doctor said. 'Good-night, Ritsuko.'

'Good-night, Doctor.'

She left without another word.

* * *

><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>


	7. Newcomers

**Chapter VII**

**Newcomers**

Commander Gendo Ikari was not a pleasant man.

Unsociable, introverted, constantly in a negative mood, and seemingly keeping things from every single person he possibly could, he was most definitely not pleasant. He was resentful, spiteful, and very, very cold. And Ritsuko Akagi was now faced with the tough prospect of convincing him to take two random civilians in to NERV HQ on extreme short notice. She knew this would not go down well.

Why had she even agreed to this? She had just walked in on a man from a parallel universe with a box that somehow had more space on the inside than the outside, and she was treating that as normal. Even _she_ was amazed at her stoicism. Still, she had fainted for it, so perhaps now she had paid her dues.

Nervously, she knocked at the door. One of the very few things she feared was upsetting Commander Ikari.

'Come in.'

Ritsuko entered and walked up to the desk quite calmly.

'Uh, good morning, sir. How are you?'

'What is this about, Dr. Akagi? I have much to do.'

'Well, I just wanted to come and ask you politely if you may hire two new members of NERV to help in technical or tactical areas?'

'Two new members, you say?' Commander Ikari paused. 'Dr. Akagi, who exactly are these two members?'

'Hellooooooo, Commander!' the Doctor shouted, running into the room. Ikari's eyebrows lowered.

'Dr. Akagi, is this some kind of schoolgirl practical joke?'

'No, sir. These people may be able to help us. I have the full, okay maybe half, perhaps quasi-support of Captain Katsuragi. They can help.'

'Well, they are going to need training,' Ikari said, in an attempt to brush it away.

'Already have it,' the Doctor said, holding up a wallet with what was clearly a NERV training certificate inside.

'I, er, get around.'

'Well, one of them is going to need—oh, come on.'

The Doctor held up another piece of paper for Amy. 'Are we quite done here, Commander?' The Commander pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Very well, Doctor. You may work with Dr. Akagi. But one mistake, and you are leaving. Do you understand?'

The Doctor nodded enthusiastically.

'Good. Now get out of here at once before I change my mind. All of you.'

The Doctor and Ritsuko bowed according to Japanese custom, with Amy awkwardly attempting to join in, before the three left the room quickly and efficiently. Ritsuko quietly shut the door behind them.

'Well, that went well,' she said. 'Where did you get the training certificate?'

'Psychic paper,' the Doctor said, placing a finger to his nose and tapping it. 'But you didn't hear it from me, okay?'

'Okay...' Ritsuko was confused, but managed not to show it on her face. 'Well, I'll take you down to the Command Center and introduce you to everyone, and you can begin working with me at once.'

'It'll be a pleasure, I'm sure,' The Doctor replied, with a suave smile.

'Great,' Ritsuko said. 'Let's go.'

* * *

><p>Shinji arrived at school the next day feeling remarkably well-rested. Not bad for someone who had nearly died a few days ago. He sat down at his desk calmly, and proceeded to get out his laptop from his desk in order to get to work. Suddenly, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned around.<p>

'T-Toji?' he said, nervously.

''ey, new kid,' the jock, the one who had punched Shinji the other day, said, in his Osakan accent. 'I just wanted to say...y'know...sorry for what happened the other day. I feel like a total douche.'

'Oh, that's okay, Toji.'

'You, me, outside, after school today.'

'Wh-what?'

'Keep it quiet, dammit. Don't freak out or nothin'. I just wanna see you after school this evening. Be there.'

'Um, okay, Toji.'

'Thanks, Shinji.'

Shinji turned back around. What did Toji want him for? He flipped open the laptop screen and turned on his computer. The teacher entered the class room, and the class representative, Hikari Horaki, ordered everyone to stand, bow, and sit, as usual. Shinji did so without any fuss.

'Okay, class, today we will again be discussing the nature of the Second Impact. The Second Impact was caused by a meteor collision in Antarctica which caused rapid changes in sea levels as you all know—'

Shinji tuned out by the end of the first sentence. It was propaganda, he knew. Just the government trying to keep kids under control. Most of the kids probably didn't see that. Or did they? Shinji wasn't too good at reading people. Well, not that it mattered. Shinji simply went back to looking over his notes for the past few days. Second Impact, Second Impact, Second Impact, mathematics, Second Impact, Second Impact, Japanese grammar, Second Impact...

* * *

><p>'Now, here are our three main computer technicians, Lieutenants Makoto Hyuga, Maya Ibuki, and Shigeru Aoba.' Ritsuko pointed her open hand at each person, for the Doctor and Amy's convenience.<p>

'Dr. Akagi?' Shigeru asked. 'What are they doing here?'

'They've just been hired as new members, and I'm showing them around,' Ritsuko said.

'_Just been hired_?' Makoto cried. 'It took me _months_ to get to here? You mean they start work _today_? But I just saw them two days ago...'

'Now, now, Lieutenant Hyuga,' Ritsuko said. 'The other day they were just visiting as a kind of open day, when they had the misfortune of seeing an Angel attack. They have already been trained.'

Maya was the only one who stood up politely and came over.

'I'm glad to be working with you,' she said, with a sweet smile. Her voice was quite a small one, definitely higher in pitch than Amy's. She sounded quite young.

'Thank you,' the Doctor replied. Amy once again attempted to do the respectful bow, getting it done a little better this time. Maya reciprocated.

'Shall we move on?' Ritsuko said, turning them away, as Maya stood behind them. Amy felt odd. It was like work experience back in secondary school, except with more potential chance of dying. Well, what was life without a thrill?

'These are the MAGI computers,' she said, pointing down to three massive boxes, each one with a red "roof". 'MAGI-1, Melchior, MAGI-2, Balthasar, and MAGI-3, Casper.'

'Ooh, Biblical,' The Doctor commented.

'They are the center of the computing grid of not only NERV, but the whole city.'

'The whole city? All of Hakone runs off of this?' the Doctor asked, intrigued.

'Hakone? Doctor, this city is now called Tokyo-3,' Ritsuko explained.

'What? You're kidding me! Why didn't anybody tell me? How embarrassing!'

'If you'll allow me to return to what I was saying, Doctor,' she said, indignantly, 'They are all tasked with making important decisions within the city by voting. Kind of like your British Parliament, in a way.'

'I see,' the Doctor remarked. 'So, where will Amy and I be working?'

'Here!' Ritsuko replied. Makoto turned.

'What.' he said, flatly.

'Oh, don't be such a baby, Hyuga. We can easily install extra screens.' Ritsuko turned to the other two. 'Don't mind Hyuga. He's just a little peeved at stuff when it changes.'

'Hey, shut up!' he said.

'Well, I think it's wonderful,' Maya replied. 'Welcome to NERV. May I ask your names?'

Amy stuck out a hand. 'I'm Amy Pond. I'm Scottish. Can you tell?'

'No, actually, your Japanese is flawless,' Maya responded, taking the hand and shaking it.

'Well, thank you!' Amy replied. The wonders of the TARDIS.

'And who are you?' she asked.

'I'm the Doctor.'

'Doctor...'

'Just the Doctor. I make things better. You know. 'cos I'm a Doctor.'

'I think we're going to get on really well,' Maya replied, and with that, she returned to her seat.

The Doctor leant over and whispered in Ritsuko's ear. 'You know, you're going to have to tell them what we are at some point.'

'Later. I don't want them to get over-excited. Let them have their fun.'

* * *

><p>Shinji stood in the school yard. He checked his watch. Toji was late. Ten minutes late. It was getting dark. He felt like he should go.<p>

'Shinji, ya made it!' Shinji turned. There was Toji. The jock who punched him the other day, now asking him a favour. Why? 'Sorry 'bout showin' up late, had to go to a detention. Class Rep woulda been on my ass otherwise, y'know.'

'That's okay, Toji. What did you want?'

'I want you to hit me.'

'Wh-what?'

'I want you, to hit, me.'

'Why?'

'I'm so guilty about hittin' you the other day, man. It's like, when I saw you fighting that Angel thing...man, you saved our lives. And I'm not gonna be satisfied until you hit me back.'

'Where's Kensuke?'

'I told him, I want this to be just me an' you. Now, I got places to be, so have you. Let's get this outta the way. Hit me. Go on.'

'But...Toji...'

'Hit me, Shinji! Go ahead.'

Shinji clamped his right hand reluctantly into a fist, and drew it back. He began to make a motion to hit Toji.

'WAIT!'

Shinji stopped. 'What?'

'Don't hold back. In the face. You're nervous. Just go ahead.'

Shinji drew his fist back.

In one swift motion, he punched Toji in the face. Toji hit the ground. His nose bled. He struggled to breathe for a few moments.

'Thanks, Shinji.'

Shinji looked at his fist in horror. 'Sorry, Toji.'

'Don't be, Shinji.' Toji stood, picked up his bag, and prepared to walk out.

'Toji!'

Toji did not answer.

Shinji was alone in the school yard again.

* * *

><p>Distant from the shore, there was a tiny speck. It floated above the horizon, disturbing nothing. It was peaceful. It seemed, unassuming, unthreatening. And it hung in the air in the way that a speck in the distance generally doesn't. Suddenly, it became slightly larger. A bluish glint shone off of the speck's side from the setting sun. Yet nobody was around to observe this sight.<p>

And suddenly, the silence at the beach, aside from the sound of gently lapping waves, was broken. The sound was beautiful, but also, in a way, horrifying.

'_Auuuhhh. Auuuhhh._'

The speck became larger. It was moving.

* * *

><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>


	8. Settling In

**Chapter VIII**

**Settling In**

'Activate.'

Rei braced herself. Hands on the controls, sit still. Just like Commander Ikari and Dr. Akagi told her. Stay perfectly still.

'Connect the main power supply and all circuits together.'

Control breathing. Don't breathe too hard. Remain very calm.

'Main power supply connected. Start on the activation system. Voltage increasing to the critical point: 0.5, 0.2...rising!'

'Start the second phase of the activation system.'

This was it.

'The pilot has commenced the joining.'

'Start System Phase II.'

Concentrate. That's what they said. Concentrate. Think of nothing else. What else was there to think about? Just concentrate.

Commander Gendo Ikari, Sub-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki and Dr. Ritsuko Akagi all stood in the control room with several technicians.

'Synapses inserted. Junction started,' Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba called out.

'Pulses transmitted,' Lieutenant Maya Ibuki confirmed.

'All circuits are operational.'

'The initial contact has no problems.'

'Power has been transmitted up to the brachial muscle in both arms. There are no problems with the nerve links.'

'Checked. Up to 2550 on the list satisfied.'

Ritsuko nervously cracked her knuckles. At times like these, she could really go for a cigarette. This was it. Unit-00's activation test. It was all about to happen right now. Come on. The graph began building up...all green...approaching the borderline...

'Up to 2580 satisfied. Until the absolute borderline, 0.9, 0.7, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, pulses are beginning to flow back!'

The graph began beeping loudly.

'Problems encountered on the third stage. Rejection is setting in on the nerve center elements.

'Stop the contacts. Break the circuits up to 6th.'

'Negative! The signal's not being received!'

'Unit-00 is out of control!'

The huge armour-plated humanoid tore its shoulders away from the wall. Rei did not panic. Her eyes widened. She was certain this was not correct. Sit still. That's what they told her. So she would comply.

'Stop the experiment,' Commander Ikari said. 'Cut off the power supply.'

'Yes, sir.'

Ritsuko smashed the glass on the emergency switch, and pulled the handle inside. The umbilical cable quickly released from Unit-00's back.

'Unit-00's power supply has been switched to standby.'

The leviathan lurched forward, muffled roars coming from under its helmet.

'35 seconds until complete standstill!' Shigeru yelled.

A colossal fist smashed into the window, leaving dents in the walls.

'Sir—it's dangerous! Step back!' Ritsuko shouted. Gendo was standing right in front of the glass.

'Auto-ejection system engaging!' Maya shouted.

'Damn it!' Gendo shouted.

'Time until the complete standstill: Ten, nine, eight, seven...'

The Entry Plug, containing Rei, shot out of the Evangelion's neck, sparking against the ceiling and wall, before finally stopping on the ground.

'Special Bakelite release! Now! Hurry!' Ritsuko ordered.

'Rei!' Gendo cried, real worry in his voice, something that was not heard often.

'Six, five, four, three, two, one...zero. Complete standstill confirmed.'

Gendo ran down the steps and into the experimentation room. The entry plug lay there, steaming. He grabbed the door handles, and jumped back. His glasses fell to the ground and melted. The handles were super-heated. Gendo felt his palms blister and bubble, instantly becoming irreparably damaged. He frantically pulled on the handles. A lot of steam blew up in to his face.

The door was finally open. Orange liquid drained on to the floor. It had the stench of coagulating blood.

'Rei! Are you all right? Rei?'

Rei's eyes opened. Gendo stared into her crimson irises with relief. She bled a little from her forehead.

'Okay,' Gendo said, with a smile.

* * *

><p>'Demolition of Block-D3 has finished. Please submit all data to the analysis group of the 1st Division of Engineering Bureau.'<p>

'Ah, this is the Angel, isn't it?' the Doctor asked. 'Look at that. It's actually quite beautiful.'

'Yes, but it's our enemy, Doctor,' Ritsuko replied. 'Don't get carried away.'

'I never was one for dissection, myself,' the Doctor said. 'So. You've been looking at Angel guts all week.'

'If you wish to summarise it, then yes,' Ritsuko said. 'Oh dear. Here comes trouble.'

The Doctor turned. Misato was coming towards him. 'Captain Katsuragi! I haven't seen you in a few days!'

'Ritsuko? What's going on? He's not supposed to be here.'

'The Commander just let him join.'

'Like that? I've never heard Commander Ikari to be so...so...'

'Amenable?' Ritsuko asked, playfully.

'Yes, thank you, Ms. Walking Thesaurus.'

'Well, I'm very persuasive,' the Doctor added. 'He also allowed my friend, Amy, to join.'

'Oh. Did he, now?'

'Yes! So we're your new members. She's not here at the moment, she's in the Command Center.'

'Good.'

There was an awkward pause.

'Well, anyway, I have some good news,' Ritsuko said, trying to break the ice. 'Unit-00 is working again, and Rei is pretty much up and walking, so we're ready to test it again.'

'Ah, that's good,' Misato said. 'What caused the last incident, anyway?'

'We still don't know. The primary cause is believed to be mental instability in the pilot.'

'Mental instability? In Rei?'

'Yes. We believe she was much more disturbed than we could expect.'

'What happened?'

'I don't know, but she might have...'

'Do have an idea?'

'No...that can't be...'

Shinji suddenly came up behind Misato wearing a hard hat. 'Hey, Misato,' he said. 'Ritsuko, Doctor.'

'Hi, Shinji,' Misato replied. 'Doctor, have you met Shinji? He's one of our pilots.'

'Yes, we have met before,' the Doctor replied. 'He's the only person to have shaken my hand so far.'

'So, is this the Angel?' he asked, peering up at the purple creature.

'We're lucky, actually,' Ritsuko said. 'We have a mostly-intact core and body. I'm very grateful for it.'

'Well, do you know anything new?' Misato asked. Ritsuko took the three into a room with a computer. She tapped on the keyboard. The number '601' flashed up.

'What does that mean?' the Doctor asked, intrigued.

'That means "inanalysable",' Ritsuko replied. 'Our computers can't read the substance the Angel is composed of.'

'So you know nothing new at all?'

'Only that they're composed of matter with the properties of both particles and waves, like light.'

'You did find its power source, didn't you?'

Ritsuko sighed. 'Nothing on its working mechanism, unfortunately.'

'We've finally found something that stumps even you,' Misato said, half-jokingly.

'We _do_ have the Angel's inherent wave pattern,' Ritsuko said, showing the three others.

'Hang on a moment,' the Doctor said, looking at it.

'What?' Misato asked.

'Well, it looks to me as if the constituent elements of it are the same, but the coordinates of these signals are quite similar to that human control group. Angel genes are 99.89% similar to human genes?'

'Well done, Doctor,' Ritsuko said. 'And we can't figure out why.'

Misato suddenly turned to see Shinji peering round a corner. 'Shinji, what's wrong?'

'Ah...no, nothing. Nothing's wrong.'

'Well, you say that, but what you also seem to be saying is, "Ah, please take care of me. Worry about me, please."'

'Well, it's Father. He seems to have burned his hands on something.'

'Burned?'

'I was wondering what happened.'

'Do you know, Ritsuko?'

Ritsuko sighed. 'Before you came here, Shinji, Unit-00 went out of control during the activation experiment. You've heard about that, right?'

'Yes.'

'The pilot was trapped inside.'

'It was Ayanami, wasn't it?'

'Yes. Your father pulled open the super-heated hatch to save her.'

'Father did that...?'

'Your father sounds like a brave man,' the Doctor said.

'Yeah,' Shinji replied. 'I guess.'

'Who is this "Ayanami"?' the Doctor asked, intrigued.

'Another of our pilots, Doctor.' Misato said. 'She was a pilot before Shinji.'

'Ah! That reminds me!' Ritsuko cried, grabbing an envelope from inside the desk. 'I forgot to give Rei her new card. Would you mind taking it to her, Shinji?'

'Certainly,' Shinji replied.

'Good boy,' she said, handing him the envelope.

* * *

><p>The speck in the distance sat still. It was too early. When the time was right, it would move a little bit further towards the shore. But now was not the time. Patience.<p>

Not yet.

* * *

><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's note:<strong> I apologise if this chapter seems rather mediocre. I decided to experiment by using lines from the script. It didn't come out too well. Sorry about that. See you for Chapter IX!_


	9. Beautiful Behemoth

**Chapter IX**

**Beautiful Behemoth**

Shinji Ikari rang the doorbell of Rei Ayanami's apartment.

'Ayanami? Are you there?'

The doorbell did not ring. The battery was dead. Neglected.

Shinji pulled on the handle, and to his surprise, the door was unlocked.

'Ayanami? Rei?'

No answer. Shinji took his shoes off politely and walked into the room. It was dark, and grey. There was no carpet. The bed was like something from a prison. The walls were filthy. The kitchen was filled with unwashed cutlery and crockery. Bloody bandages sat on the ground, having never been cleaned up.

'Perhaps she isn't here.'

Shinji examined a pair of half-melted glasses. Weren't these his father's? He subconsciously put them on, only to hear something behind him. There stood Rei Ayanami, the First Child, naked except for a towel.

Shinji tried to force words out. This was wrong. Rei came towards him, her expression never changing. She didn't even seem to blink. She reached for Shinji's face. She was trying to get the glasses.

'Agghhh...' Shinji tried not to touch Rei's body in embarassment. How was she so unconcerned for her nudity?

He lost his balance suddenly, collapsing on top of Rei, who clutched the glasses tightly. A few moments passed.

'Please get off,' Rei said in a quiet voice, while somehow polite.

Shinji stared in horror at his hand. It was on Ayanami's breast. 'Uh, uh..uh...'

'What?' she seemed unconcerned. She calmly dressed herself.

Shinji said, 'Dr. Akagi...Ritsuko...told me...to give...you...this...' He held out the card

Rei turned. She took the card from his hands. 'Thank you, Third Child,' Rei almost whispered. 'Please leave.'

Shinji quickly put his shoes back on and left. He felt his face. It was warm. He had gone bright red.

Shinji ran away from the apartment as fast as he could. He didn't understand what had just happened, but it frightened him. He felt his face again. It was cold. He had gone pale.

* * *

><p>Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Amy, you open the notepad by typing "NOTE" in at the command line.'<p>

'Okay. And...how do you open up the calculator?'

'Did they even give you a manual?'

'No...'

'You mean you haven't checked your drawers yet?'

'No, I assumed those were yours...' Amy opened the drawer. 'Hey, look, a manual! And look, all the commands!'

'GOD!' Shigeru shouted, crushing his cup of coffee and spraying it everywhere.

'Calm down, Shigeru,' Maya defended. 'She's new here.'

Suddenly, the door hissed open.

There stood a man dressed in full NERV uniform, inclusing scarlet shoulder pads, beige jacket, beige trousers, and a pair of black boots.

'Doctor?' Amy asked. 'What are you wearing?' She was still dressed in civilian clothing.

'I wear a NERV uniform now. NERV uniforms are cool.'

'You look...kinda good, Doctor,' Makoto forced himself to admit. He was still upset the Doctor had been employed on such short notice.

'Thank you, Makoto,' The Doctor said.

'I could really go for some lunch right now,' Shigeru remarked, checking the time. 'One-thirty. The cafeteria'll be closing up soon. I'd better be getting over there, quick.'

'I do believe I might join you,' the Doctor said. He thought for a moment. 'Do you think they'd do fish fingers in custard?'

* * *

><p>The speck on the horizon glinted in the sun. It was a midday sun, shining high at the speck's very crest. The speck was finally ready. It was time to set to work. Slowly, but surely, unseen mechanisms began working in the great crystalline leviathan's body, and it lurched onward into the detection zones. It heralded its entrance with its hellish, yet heavenly fanfare...<p>

'_Auuuhhh_. _Auuuhhh_.'

The Fifth Angel had come.

* * *

><p><em>VWEE-RP! VWEE-RP!<em>

'My God, we've just detected an Angel entering the vicinity of Tokyo-3!' Makoto cried. 'We have visual!' A massive, blue octahedron, crystalline in nature, hovered into view. It was moving quite quickly, but appeared to be taking its time.

Maya quickly picked up a phone and punched in numbers. 'Captain Katsuragi? Get here quickly, there is another Angel attack currently in progress.'

Ritsuko quickly entered the Command Centre. 'I heard the alarm!' She looked at the screen. 'The next Angel...'

'Right,' The Doctor said. 'The next Angel.'

Commander Ikari calmly entered the room and assumed his post. 'Where is Captain Katsuragi?'

'She's not on duty, sir,' Ritsuko replied, turning to him.

'Oh. How...disappointing. Launch EVA Unit-01.'

'What?' The Doctor asked, turning. 'You don't even know what it is yet. You're telling a teenage boy to go out and face it?'

'Yes. That is how the Evangelion pilots work. Send him out.'

'Shinji isn't here!' shouted Maya.

'Well, get a hold of him. Now.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Commander Ikari, may I ask, in which way are you and Shinji related?' the Doctor asked.

'Is this really the time, Doctor?'

'Yes, yes this is the perfect time, Commander Ikari. Tell me, now. What relation?'

'He is...he is my son, Doctor.'

'Your son, Ikari. So, you're sending out your son, your only child, in order to defeat what could be a potential threat to his life?'

'Yes,' Ikari replied, coldly. 'Now, be seated.'

The Doctor turned away and sat down.

The door hissed open. 'I heard there was an Angel attack,' the voice of Misato Katsuragi called. 'I came as fast as I could.'

'Good, Captain Katsuragi,' Commander Ikari said. 'The Third Child is not here. Do you have anything to do with that?'

'No, Shinji is...The Third Child is...at school.'

'He should be here,' Ikari said. 'Send out Rei if needs be.'

'She isn't here either?'

'Such lack of efficiency!' Ikari shouted, slamming his hand down on the desk.

'Third Child has just entered through main gates!'

'Shinji!'

* * *

><p>'I'm late,' Shinji muttered, running for the changing rooms.<p>

He quickly got in, taking off all his clothes and placing his plugsuit on.

'Come on,' he said, pressing a button on his wrist to pressurise the suit. He quickly ran to his EVA Unit.

'Shinji, you're late,' a voice said on the radio.

'I know,' he replied, jumping in to the Entry Plug.

'Shinji, prepare to confront the Angel,' Misato said. 'It's approaching the centre of the city. Be warned, it could be dangerous. We're not sure what it does yet.'

'Okay, Misato.'

The lift carried Shinji right up and into the city.

He stopped, the Evangelion's head jerking into place.

'Shinji, are you there? Can you see it?'

'Yes, Misato...I'm here. I can't see it yet.'

'Wait...' Lieutenant Aoba called out. 'High-energy reaction detected in the target!'

'What?' Misato yelled.

'Its circumferential parts are increasing speed and concentrating!'

'That means...' Ritsuko uttered, in disbelief.

'Shinji, dodge it!' Misato cried.

'Huh?'

'DUCK!' the Doctor shouted.

Without even thinking, Shinji leapt to the ground. The Angel fired a bright particle beam clean through a building and over his head.

'Pilot is stable!' Makoto announced.

'Good! Shinji, retreat!' Misato ordered.

'Yes, ma'am!'

The Evangelion quickly scampered back into the lift as the Angel corrected for its error and tried to melt the door off of the elevator.

The Angel hovered for a few moments, then suddenly released a huge, organic drill, which began boring into the ground.

'Angel has begun tunnelling into GeoFront.'

'Really?' The Doctor said. 'That means it's coming to us.'

'And why is this a good thing, Doctor?' Commander Ikari asked.

'Because, Commander,' the Doctor said, politely, 'The one thing you never do after attempting to kill an innocent is come straight to me.'

'You're insane.'

'Am I, now? Would someone insane care for a teenage boy who was almost burned alive? Would someone insane want to prevent something clearly intent on ending human lives from doing just that? Would they, Commander?'

The Commander did not reply.

'Captain Katsuragi, I may be a mere computer technician as of yet, but I assure you, I can and will help you, right here, from this desk. And all I need is for you to move those Evangelions out to an exact spot. Because I have a plan.'

Misato paused. 'Certainly, Doctor.'

'Right, first, Ritsuko, I want you and the others to find out when this thing is going to reach us.

'Right, Doctor.'

'Misato, get the pilots in the know for the next mission just as soon as I come up with it.'

'Yes, Doctor.'

'Shinji, can you hear me?'

'Yes, Doctor...'

'Right, meet Misato somewhere. Get this "Ayanami" you talk about.'

'Okay, Doctor.'

'And Pond...' the Doctor said, turning to Amy. 'Come with me.'

'Yes, Doctor.'

'Gentlemen...we're going to take this Angel down, not through brute force, not through sheer bravery...but a mix of that, and some brains.'

'Doctor!' Ikari shouted. 'How can you assume command like this? How dare you stroll in here thinking you can defeat the Angel!'

The Doctor formed a small smile. 'Trust me,' he said. 'I'm a doctor.'

* * *

><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's note<em>**_:_ _I wrote that last section while listening to "I Am The Doctor" from the Doctor Who Series 5 soundtrack. For maximum enjoyment, I suggest you do the same._


	10. The Doctor Strikes

**Chapter X**

**The Doctor Strikes**

'The Angel is just reaching the first armoured plate,' Shigeru announced.

'Good,' The Doctor said, ironically. 'Has Ritsuko given us a time-frame yet?'

'The MAGI will finish calculating it in just a few minutes,' Maya assured him.

'Fantastic!' the Doctor replied. 'Ha-haaa. I haven't said that in ages.' He fumbled around. 'Right, Pond, come with me, we're going to the TARDIS.'

'Why, Doctor?'

'I need some tools. Come on.'

The Doctor dashed off through a door, with Amy once again in pursuit.

'You know, I'm getting tired of running after you everywhere, Doctor.'

'Right, we just need to get down to the corridor with the TARDIS, but first...' The Doctor took a few turns to find Misato, Shinji, and Rei standing in a corridor.

'Right, you lot,' he said, stretching his arm out and clicking. 'Meet me in one of the meeting rooms here in about half an hour. Don't be late. Bring a map. And some biscuits. Jammy Dodgers if you can get them, anything else if you can't.'

The Doctor turned around and ran back down to the elevator.

'"Jammy Dodgers"...' Rei mumbled.

'Did you say something, Rei?'

'No, ma'am.'

'Right, you heard The Doctor, let's go.'

'We barely know him,' Rei attempted to reason, quite sincerely.

'Yeah,' Misato replied. 'But what do we have to lose?'

Misato swiftly went off to find her map of NERV HQ, which had the water closets marked out in red ink. 'It'll do,' she mumbled.

* * *

><p>'Your power has been usurped, sir,' Fuyutsuki said, speaking for the first time in what felt like days. With little else to do, he busily worked out a sudoku puzzle. 'Are you angry?'<p>

'Yes,' Gendo said, in a very monotone voice. 'But I do not wish to upset the Committee at this point. He may be an asset. As long as he gets rid of that Angel quickly and efficiently, there is no use in stopping him just yet.'

'Of course, sir,' Fuyutsuki replied. 'What do you think he'll do?'

'I have no idea,' Gendo replied, cracking his white-gloved knuckles. 'Let's hope he does the job right, or I may have to have him killed.'

'Yes, sir,' Fuyutsuki mumbled, trying to pretend he hadn't heard that.

'Tea, Professor?' Gendo said, producing a small kettle and some china. It seemed very out of character for someone as serious and firm as Commander Gendo Ikari.

'Oh, thank you,' Fuyutsuki replied, taking a cup. 'The old men will be most displeased if he does not use the Evangelions, you know.'

'I understand that,' Gendo said, calmly sipping the tea. 'But I'm sure that he will find a use for them somewhere.'

'I suppose,' Fuyutsuki replied. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment. The Tree of Sephiroth was painted delicately on to it. He calmly sipped away at the tea. He could see it vibrating. 'Should we be concerned if the Angel enters the GeoFront?'

'It depends,' Gendo replied, staring down into his cup. 'Just what are you planning, Doctor?'

* * *

><p>The Doctor dashed through the corridors and into the lift, lugging the toolbox with him.<p>

'Are you sure you don't need any help carrying that?' Amy asked.

'No...I'll be fine.'

'So, what do you need me for?' Amy asked. 'So far, you've got along just fine on your own.'

'That will become apparent later, Pond. Right now, just follow me.'

The Doctor waited for the elevator to get back up to Central Dogma, where he could access the meeting room. 'But what I can tell you is, this Angel is going to die.'

'Why do you want it dead so badly, Doctor?'

'Because, Amy, in that moment, that single, fragile moment, where I told Shinji to duck, I knew that he might have died, or been seriously injured. And then where would they have been? One pilot short. And I'm sure that just one pilot could not defeat that thing, not efficiently. You even try to touch an innocent, sentient, sapient, benevolent, life, no matter how small, like that, and you'd better run. Because I will find you, and you will be a dead man. Or, giant blue crystal octahedron, in this case.'

The elevator stopped.

'Right, first things first, Ritsuko.'

He darted back into the GeoFront and up to the main desk. 'Right, Maya, timeframe, now.'

'Estimated penetration time is midnight tomorrow.'

'Perfect. Right, amount of energy required to destroy the Angel?'

'Um...we're not sure yet, but the MAGI roughly guess something like 180,000,000 kilowatts.'

'Not so good,' the Doctor said. 'Right, thanks. Keep monitoring it and tell me if it tries anything shifty. Do not send anything up to surface, it will annihilate anything that comes near it. Tell civilians to go to the shelters or stay in them.'

'Yes, Doctor.'

'Right, now then, meeting room.'

The Doctor turned and ran back round to the meeting room. He opened the door quickly.

'Right!' he said, clapping his hands together. 'Shinji, Misato, Ayanami, how're we all doing?'

The three were caught off guard and did not answer. 'Good? Okay, right. Do you have the map?'

'Um, yes, Doctor.'

'Good. Biscuits?'

'We couldn't find any, Doctor.'

'Damn. Looks like I'm going commando for this one. Right.'

He sat down at the meeting room's desk with the map. 'This is an underground spherical cave.'

'Yes, that's right,' Misato said. 'It's a GeoFront.'

'And what does a spherical cave have? A dome. A great big roof. And look, NERV HQ is right in the middle. And if I'm correct, the Angel is boring down through here.' he pointed to the centre of the map.

'Right,' Misato replied. 'So now what?'

'We're going to turn this place into a giant crosshair for one great big weapon. Right, give me your phone.'

Misato passed it over, and the Doctor searched through the contacts for Ritsuko. He stood for a moment listening to it ring. 'Ritsuko, hello. Right, I need you to answer a question, quickly, with a "yes" or a "no". Right, the question is, "Is this place EMP-hardened?" It might be knocked out for a few minutes? Okay, great, thanks. Next question. Are the Evangelions? They are? Good. Right, okay. And thirdly: How much power do the NERV backup generators give out? Six million kilowatts? Okay. Thanks.'

He closed the phone and handed it back to Misato. 'Right, we have...' he looked at his watch. 'About 30 hours to get this planned before the Angel penetrates the GeoFront. Now, according to this map, the GeoFront has a rail system, is that correct?'

'Yes, it allows us to go deep underground.'

'Right. It has some rails up here, right?'

'Of course.'

'Okay! And how much would it cost to replace them?'

'Doctor?'

'How much?'

'Um...I don't know, 232 billion yen?'

'Right, that's not bad. Okay, so, I've got a plan, it's very crazy, but it just might work.'

'What is it?' Shinji asked.

'First of all, shut down every single rail system that is above NERV HQ.'

'Got it.'

'Tomorrow night, we're going to take down the angel with one-thirtieth the power the MAGI estimated.'

'What?'

'You'll see, Captain Katsuragi.'

The Doctor took a pen out of his pocket, and began noting things down on the map.

* * *

><p>'This is the Japanese Government's Emergency Broadcast System. We are afraid to announce that for matters of security, you must stay in your shelters until further notice. We thank you very much for your patience during these trying times.'<p>

'Damnit,' Toji remarked, sitting in the shelter with others from his school. 'Friggin' Angel. I was gonna have my favourite dinner tonight, too.'

'Is food all you ever think about?' his classmate and friend, Kensuke Aida, asked in the most condescending tone he could manage, while looking through the eyepiece of his camcorder.

''ey, shut up,' Toji replied. 'All you ever think about is gettin' videos of your precious tanks and stuff.'

'You take that back!' Kensuke hissed, protecting his camcorder fiercely.

'Geez, calm down,' Toji said. 'What, you on your period or somethin', Kensuke?'

'If I didn't know any better, I'd hit you one.'

'Yeah, but you do,' Toji said, leaning back and putting his arms behind his head. 'Still, I bet Shinji'll save the day.'

'Huh, you talk about him pretty heroically for a guy who punched him out the other day.'

'My fist is gonna meet _your_ jaw in a minute, Kensuke.'

Kensuke coughed. 'So, uh, do you think they're going to be doing school inside this shelter, or will we just goof off?'

Toji looked at his watch. 'It's about eleven now,' he said. 'We should probably be gettin' some sleep.'

'Yeah, I guess you're right,' Kensuke replied. The two rolled over into their sleeping bags and got ready to go to sleep.

* * *

><p>'This is the NERV backup generator, eh?' the Doctor asked. He whistled. 'I'd love to see what your main generator looks like.'<p>

'What exactly do you plan on doing, Doctor?' Ritsuko asked, the card she had used to open the room still in hand.

'Yeah,' Amy agreed. 'What do you need me here for?'

'The Doctor turned. 'Right, Ritsuko, keep monitoring the Angel's progress. Pond, stay here. I've finally got a job for you.'

'Finally,' Amy reiterated.

Ritsuko nodded and left the room.

'Right, Amy, take that toolbox and follow me.'

'Okay, Doctor.'

The Doctor hopped up the steps to a door on the side of the generator. He got out his sonic screwdriver and attempted to open the door.

'Oh yeah,' he remembered. 'TARDIS technology. Damn.'

He thought for a moment.

'Pond, give me a screwdriver.'

'Oh, are you going to pick the lock, like a professional?'

The Doctor proceeded to stab the door in several times with the screwdriver.

'Or you could do that.'

'Spanner, please.'

The Doctor hit the door some more.

'You know what, just give me the whole toolbox.'

The Doctor charged at the door holding the toolbox and finally it broke open.

'Ahahaha, YES!' he excitedly shouted. 'Yes! We have a turbine in here. All right!'

'So, what help do you need, Doctor?'

'Okay, I'm going to enter this generator. It's going to be massively dangerous, but if done right it might just save our hides.'

'What are you going to do?'

'Spoilers,' the Doctor grinned, entering the machine's door.

'Oh, but in all seriousness, Amy, I'm going to need you to pass me tools when I need them.'

'That's it, that's what you need me for?

'I never said it'd be an exciting job. Besides, it'll help later.'

'What exactly do you mean by "later", Doctor?'

'You know, tomorrow.'

'So, I'm going to stay up here all night?'

'That's correct.'

'Right. When does the adventure start?'

'You'll find adventure in some of the smallest of places, Pond. Never forget that.'

* * *

><p>Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi stood at the bridge of the command centre. She looked at her watch. It was six o'clock in the morning. Eighteen hours left until the Doctor's plan came into action. She and the pilots still weren't sure what was going to happen. Suddenly, someone opened the door.<p>

'Hello!' The Doctor said. 'Now, I have a full-on plan. Get Shinji and Ayanami—'

'Her name is Rei, Doctor.'

'—Rei into their Evangelions ready at five o' clock PM tonight. Then, tell them to follow my orders. I'll need a radio headset, by the way.'

'But, Doctor, you're not a commanding officer.'

'Well, okay, I'll give you the commands and then they'll follow your commands. As long as they follow my plan in some way, I'm happy.'

'But what _is_ your plan, Doctor?'

'Well, if all goes to plan, then that Angel is going to be no more tonight. That's all you need to know.'

'But, Doctor.'

'Please, Misato.'

Misato sighed. 'Okay, Doctor.'

'Good. Now, then, get some rest. I can stay up for hours, you can't. Ritsuko?'

'Yes, Doctor?'

'Do the same.'

'Okay.'

The Doctor turned on his heel. Just a few more hours...

* * *

><p>'The Angel is penetrating the seventeenth layer of armour,' Makoto announced. 'Just five left until it enters the GeoFront.'<p>

The clock read "4:00PM JST". Just eight more hours left.

'Shinji, Rei, I'm sure by now you understand what's going on.'

'Actually, Misato,' Shinji said. 'I don't. What is going on?'

Misato sighed. 'Shinji, Rei, I am going to need your full support for this mission. When I tell you to do something, you do it instantly and without hesitation. Got that?'

'Yes, ma'am,' Rei responded in a monotone.

'Uh, yes, Misato,' Shinji replied.

_I can't mess up this time. Do as she says. Or she'll be angry again._

'Wait, what the...!' Shigeru exclaimed. 'Target's drill is accelerating!'

'Sneaky bastard!' Misato shouted. 'Quick, Maya, have the MAGI recalculate our timescale.'

'Yes, ma'am!'

'Can you activate emergency radio to the backup generator room?'

'Certainly,' Shigeru replied, tapping a few keys on his keyboard. 'You're patched through.'

'Doctor!' Misato said. 'The Angel's speeding up.'

'Speeding up? Where are you? Is that emergency radio?'

'Yes!'

'Quickly, launch the pilots.'

'MAGI's results have returned! Timescale is now just up until nine o' clock PM!'

'Damn, it's cut the time down to just five hours,' the Doctor said. 'Send them out. Follow EVERY order Misato gives, carefully. Misato, as soon as they're in those Evangelions, come straight to me.'

'Yes,' Misato responded. 'You heard him, get to the Evas.'

'Pond, we're going to have to speed up—' The Doctor's radio was cut off.

'Yes, ma'am,' Rei responded once again. The two pilots ran off into the changing rooms.

'Ayanami,' Shinji panted as they entered. 'What do you think's going to happen?'

'I do not know,' she responded, sincerely. 'It could be dangerous.'

'What if the Doctor's plan doesn't work out? Will we die?'

'You will not die, Third Child. For I will protect you.'

* * *

><p>'Evangelions! Launch!'<p>

The lifts shot the two Evas up and into the GeoFront.

'Okay,' the Doctor said. 'Misato, are you getting a clear transmission from me?'

'Yes, Doctor.'

'Good. Let's get this show on the road, as the old cliché goes.'

'Right.'

'Okay, order number one: Find any rails that you can reach, and bend them into rings. They don't have to be perfect, just sort of ring-shaped. Get about ten of them, if you can.'

Misato relayed the order.

Rei and Shinji reached up and took down the deactivated rails, beginning the difficult process of bending them.

'Nineteenth armour plate is half-penetrated. Arrival is getting ever earlier.'

'Right, that's always good to hear,' the Doctor said. 'Once you've done that, stack them on top of each other.'

The two pilots bent the rails into position.

'How many so far?' Shinji asked.

'Fff...five...' Rei gasped, showing strain, something only seen in battle.

'Okay, here comes number six,' he said, grunting as he stretched it into place.

'Nineteenth plate is fully penetrated. Angel is advancing on to twentieth plate.'

'Hurry, Doctor!'

'Remain calm,' the Doctor said. 'Or, Keep Calm and Carry On, as my friend Churchill liked to say. Remember him, Pond?'

'This is not the time, Doctor!'

'Of course. Have you got ten yet?'

'We're on eight,' Misato replied.

'Okay, good,' the Doctor said, crawling into the generator and wiring up a switch.

'What are you planning on doing, Doctor?' Amy asked.

'Not long now,' the Doctor replied.

'MAGI has recalculated the timescale,' Misato announced. 'We don't have long.'

'Okay,' the Doctor replied. 'That's good. More action that way. Are we on ten now?'

Shinji bent one last rail into a ring.

'We do now.'

'Good. Right, now we wait.'

'We wait?' Amy asked. 'What?'

'The art of surprise, Pond. One of the main factors of war.'

'War, Doctor? I thought you were against war?'

'Okay, getting rid of big blue crystal things.'

'Angel's drill has reached its terminal velocity. Drill has penetrated the twentieth bit of armour and is boring into the twenty-first faster than ever before!'

'We don't have long at all, Doctor!' Misato cried. 'Come on!'

'OKAY!' the Doctor answered. 'Now for the dangerous bit!'

'Dangerous...?' Misato asked.

'Ask the pilots to disconnect their umbilical cables and connect them to the rings.'

'What?'

'But that will mean only five minutes of reserve power.'

'I meant on my mark.'

'Twenty-first bit of armour penetrated! Final stage reached!'

'Wait for it...'

'Doctor!'

'Wait for it...!'

'We can't, Doctor!'

'Okay, connect those cables to the rings NOW!'

Misato relayed the order. Rei and Shinji did so, and the clocks inside the Eva Units displayed 5:00, for five minutes of power.

'Right. Now, we have our superweapon. You're a fan of Biblical names here, so let's do that. Let's call it a Halo, no, let's call it the Halo of God. Because that's what this is right now. And the second that Angel enters, it's going to feel the full force of it!'

'What?' Amy and Misato cried.

'You see, Pond, Katsuragi, the second I flip this switch, the energy from these generators will be fired off at an incredible speed. But due to my tinkering around in here, with the right timing, it...should...'

'Last plate breached! It's entering the GeoFront!' Makoto shouted, removing his glasses, steaming up from the amount of sweat on his brow.

The huge drill bit came through the rock at the top. It hung there for a few moments.

'...REVERSE THE POLARITY OF THE NEUTRON FLOW!'

The Doctor hit the switch, and a surge of electricity exploded out of the backup generators, shooting through every single wire, up the umbilical cables and into the ring. A massive electrical surge exploded out of the ring and up the drill-bit.

The Angel hung there for a second.

'Target has gone silent!' Shigeru announced.

'My God, we defeated it!' Makoto replied, excitedly.

'Wait...' Maya said. 'Another high-energy reading has been detected...'

'No...' Misato uttered.

'This is wrong,' Ritsuko replied.

'It didn't work?' The Doctor said, with fear in his voice. 'NO!'

'It's aiming straight for NERV HQ!'

'We're going to die!'

'Ikari, quickly, turn your AT Field to maximum!' Rei, of all people, shouted.

'Why?'

'JUST DO IT!'

The two Evas turned their AT Fields incredibly high, decimating trees and damaging the characteristic metal pyramid of NERV HQ.

'What are you doing?' Misato shouted, but by this point, all radio had been knocked out. All electrics had.

The Angel fired off its particle beam down the long drill bit like a barrel, and into the Halo of God.

A huge, octagonal, honeycomb-like formation developed in the centre of the rings, as the beam hit it just above NERV HQ: In the centre.

Suddenly, with a blinding flash, the beam bounced back on itself and up the drill bit again.

The screen at NERV HQ turned back on.

The beam passed through the Angel's top for a moment. All was silent for a few seconds.

Then, a large crack appeared in the Angel's side. And another, and another. A long, oddly familiar-looking crack appeared along the Angel's body. The Angel did not sing.

The cracks glowed white-hot like some kind of reaction was taking place. Then, there was a deafening cry, like a woman's scream, yet unearthly, in a way.

'_AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH_!'

For a moment, the NERV staff covered their ears. Was this another attack? And then they realised. The Angel was screaming. In pain. In terror.

It was a death scream.

The Angel exploded into sheets of white flame and chunks of blue crystal, bits of translucent corpse being thrown across Tokyo-3 as shrapnel, crashing into hills and lakes, boiling them and burning trees, steaming and smoking as they came into contact with the Angel's body.

And at the centre, there lay a dark-red, dead core, with a hole blown clean through the middle. This too, cracked, and also exploded, albeit into smaller pieces.

Shigeru Aoba was speechless for a few moments. 'Target...destroyed!'

There was a pause. 'HAHAHA, YES!' Makoto shouted, as the NERV staff began clapping and cheering. Misato clapped euphorically.

'Shinji? Rei? Can you hear me?'

There was a frightening silence for a few moments.

'L...loud and clear...Misato...' Shinji said, his face beaded with sweat,. He fell back into his seat, eyes closed. He was exhausted.

'Yes, ma'am,' Rei replied, monotone as ever, yet still sweating, pale skin flushed slightly and light cyan hair ruffled.

The Doctor scrambled out of the generator's hatch. Amy embraced him quickly. 'You did it, Doctor.'

'No,' the Doctor answered. 'They did.'

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's note: <em>**_So, that's a suitably epic conclusion to the Prologue Arc of "The Visitors". Whew. My hands hurt from all the typing. You'd better be grateful! _

_This story will now be taking a break for two to three weeks, one because I need to recharge my batteries after this, and two, because I will be on holiday with no word processor or Internet to work with. So don't worry, it's not dead (it's pinin' for the fjords). _

_In any case, I shall see you next time for the beginning of the Action Arc, Chapter XI, "The Errors of Man"!_

_And don't worry, I'll make sure there's lots of fanTARDIS in there too! (_Tādisu_,_ tādisu_!)_

* * *

><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>


	11. The Errors of Man

**Chapter XI**

**The Errors of Man**

Misato Katsuragi woke up with a start. The first thing she noticed was that her head hurt. The next thing she noticed was that it was dark. The third thing she noticed was that her head really, really hurt. Fumbling around in the dark, she became aware she was still in bed. Feeble attempts to roll out from under the covers were met with little success.

She decided to just weakly push them away and wriggle out. What happened last night? She stood up, legs shaking, trying to hold balance, if only for a moment. She stumbled over to the sliding door that led out on to her apartment's veranda, pulling away the curtains that obscured it. Morning light poured in and revealed exactly what had happened the previous night.

A bottle of sake, or rather, what had once been a bottle of sake, now merely an eighth or so still full, stood curiously upright in the drunken chaos that was Misato's room. Ah. So she had a hangover. Vague memories tore away at the morning's perceptions in an effort to reveal themselves, unsuccessfully.

Misato really had no clue what had happened. Perhaps if she retraced her steps? She flopped over to the bottle of sake and picked it up, before lurching out of the room and collapsing into a seat in the living room, taking a sip from the bottle, her reasoning being that drinking the hair of the dog would stop her head swimming.

So now to retrace the memories. The Angel was dead. That was a fact. She remembered that as clear as day. There were still bits of corpse scattered around the city that some poor bastard had to go around clean up. But it was dead, and that was the main thing.

But what happened next? There was...she had joined the celebrations at NERV for a while before everyone went home for the day. She stayed later than everyone, even Shinji went home early. Where was he? Still asleep, probably. So where was she? Oh right, going home. It must have been...three in the morning. But then what? She remembered having a very good time. Wait...

Yes, now it was all a bit more clear. She "borrowed" a bottle of sake from the bar. Yes, and then she...she must have gone home with it. Right. But it still felt like she was forgetting something. Misato yawned and swigged back some more sake. Not that it was making her feel any better.

'Misato? Are you up?'

Shinji came into the room to see Misato, head lolling, dried saliva down one side of her face, and what was presumably dried vomit on her jumper. She appeared to still have some of her NERV uniform on. 'What happened to you?'

'Hadda bituva drink lasnight,' Misato slurred.

'But Misato, don't you have to get ready for something with Ritsuko today? It says on the calendar.'

Misato's eyes bulged. There was the missing piece of the puzzle. She glanced at the calendar. "Ritz, 12:00, JA" it ran under the word, "Wednesday".

'Shinji, be a dear and step out of the room, please,' she said, surprisingly lucidly for someone who was not only had a hangover, but was also tipsy.

'Okay, Misato, but I don't really see why—'

'Shinji.'

Shinji obliged. 'Okay, Misato.'

He slunk into his room, leaving Misato alone. Misato paused for a moment. And then the gravity of the situation hit her like a lead brick.

'FFFFFFF-'

* * *

><p>The Doctor straightened his bow tie and placed his tweed jacket in a way that was comfortable on his back. His cool NERV uniform had, unfortunately, been partially ignited by an electrical arc. It was frustrating, too, because his plan had only half-worked. The Doctor did not like to do things by halves.<p>

He wasn't complaining, after all, the Angel had been brought down in sheets of white-hot flame. It had tried to kill a young boy named Shinji Ikari with a blast of radiation powerful enough to turn flesh to carbon in milliseconds. That was his motive for destroying it. Really, he was just trying to help.

It had started when he had seen Captain Misato Katsuragi cry. That moment had been a strange one for the Doctor. The Doctor knew, and understood, that people don't just burst into tears and ask for help from strangers, not like that. She cried, and then she sat and explained everything to him, at a great security risk, as if she...she...trusted him. That woman knew something about him, and she barely even knew him. But she cried because she was scared. Fear. That seemed to be all too common in this dark reflection of a world he once thought he knew.

So why, now, was he sitting outside Commander Ikari's office, waiting for him to make the time to talk to him. Shortly after the Angel's destruction, Ikari had called upon the Doctor in his office, but he had been sent away several times. This was the fifth time he had shown up there. What exactly was it Ikari wanted to talk to him about.

Much as he hated to say it, the Doctor did not like Commander Ikari. He was a spiteful, over-empowered seeming man, and, as little as the Doctor knew everyone at the moment, he knew Commander Ikari was not a pleasant character. Still, if he wanted to survive here, that was something he would have to face.

The Doctor reached into his pocket and fumbled about for a bit. He pulled out a wrist-watch. It had stopped. The Doctor tapped it and gave it a shake. Nothing. He put it back in his pocket and sat back, waiting for Ikari to let him in.

* * *

><p>'You try our patience, Ikari. Over 300 billion yen spent on repairs to the GeoFront rail system. What is your explanation for this?'<p>

Ikari looked up at the faceless, holographic monolith, the words "SEELE 01" and "SOUND ONLY" adorning it. The booming voice did not stir him.

'I entrusted a new employee at NERV with destroying the latest Angel. His efforts seem to have been...' He paused for a moment to find the right words. '...at least partially successful.'

'A new employee? You know that you are supposed to notify us of any new employees. Who is this new employee?'

'He is a doctor,' Ikari said, matter-of-factly. 'He promised he could help us.'

'Did he?'

'In a way, yes.'

'Very well, Ikari. We shall allow this error, for now. But we will not tolerate this gross misuse of our funds once again.'

With not even a goodbye, but a quiet "whoosh", the monolith and its 11 brethren vanished. Fuyutsuki turned to Ikari.

'You are angering them, Ikari. I think we should be careful.'

'Yes,' Ikari agreed. 'But for now, I must speak to someone. Open the door and let him in.'

'Yes, sir.'

The aging professor opened the door and the Doctor came in swiftly.

'Commander Ikari, you wanted to see me, what is this ab-'

'Be quiet.' The Doctor stopped talking. 'Sit down.' The Doctor sat, and Ikari folded his hands. 'Doctor, I employed you here on the promise of help. And your last effort to defeat the Angel was...unsatisfactory...at best.'

'But it did help a little bit,' The Doctor said.

'Yes, Doctor, but I expect a defeated Angel, not an injured one. Your plan nearly killed us all.'

'So I didn't quite understand the Angel's potential. These things happen.'

'Yes,' Ikari muttered. 'But I warn you now, Doctor, I have my eyes on you. This was not a failure, but if you do fail, I will have no choice but to have you...removed...from the organisation. Is this understood?'

The Doctor did not speak. 'Is this understood, Doctor?'

'Yes,' the Doctor replied, bitterly.

'Good,' Ikari said, flatly. 'You may leave now, Doctor.'

'Thank you,' the Doctor replied, walking away.

The Doctor sincerely did not like Commander Ikari. Closing the door behind him, he wondered what Ikari's agenda was. He seemed deeply unfriendly. He was supposed to be saving people, so why was he so cold?

It had only occurred to him the other day: Shinji was his son, and he was sending him out to die like a faceless and unknown person. Shinji Ikari was a good boy, and his father paid him no attention. This was a matter of concern for the Doctor.

The pilots. Two of them. Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami. The Doctor thought for a moment. And then it suddenly hit him. The girl and the TARDIS. Rei.

* * *

><p>'Okay, Ritsuko, sorry I couldn't get to the airport in time. Yeah, well...okay, but...yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, yes, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP.' Misato pressed the "hang up" button on her mobile phone and wondered just how seriously Commander Ikari was going to chew her ass off.<p>

Still, she'd probably be fine at the Jet Alone exhibition by herself, right?

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's note: <em>**_Hello again. Sorry for the short chapter, I'm busy unpacking. _

_As you may or may not have noticed, I have altered the continuity of this story slightly: It used to be set somewhere specific within the Doctor Who series, but I gave up on that, so now it's set whenever in the series. I don't care. However, it _**is**_ still set after Episode 1. That is all._

_See you whenever I can, and don't forget to review._

* * *

><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>


	12. He Who Ate The Fruit

**Chapter XII**

**He Who Ate The Fruit**

Ritsuko Akagi gazed out of the window of the plane, in the way one does when they have things running through their mind that just don't seem to go away. Misato had woken up with a heavy hangover from nursing a bottle of sake all night, which had left her, indeed rather fittingly, to go to the "Jet Alone" exhibition alone.

She looked at her watch. There was a good ten or twenty minutes until landing, depending on air traffic. She looked back out of the window. This man, the Doctor. She'd heard rumours Commander Ikari planned to have him "removed" if he failed in his efforts to defeat the Angels again. Last time was a lucky escape—this time, he might not be so lucky.

Who was he? This man in his blue box? Why wasn't she concerned with telling the others about the fact there was a, no, _two_ technical walking violations of the laws of physics trying to help defeat the Angels? Was he even fully aware of the capabilities of the Evangelion yet? So far, he'd barely even seen them. He made the plans on a whim. There was definitely something odd about him.

Why was he here? What was his relation to anything? Was there a reason? Could there be a reason? Or was it just sheer coincidence that this man appeared? And then it occurred to her. Ritsuko, for once in her life, felt she knew nothing about something. There was nothing—_nothing—_she knew about him. He simply made an empty promise of helping and saving...why did she listen to him? What effect had he had to suppress these signs? So many thoughts...

_Dr. Akagi._

Who had he met so far? Who did he know? What did he know? How? Where? Why? When?

_Dr. Akagi._

She had to speak to him at some point...she had to tell the others, also, who he really was.

_Dr. Akagi!_

'What?' Ritsuko turned to see a NERV agent, wearing black sunglasses and a suit, standing before her.

'We are beginning our descent. Please put your seatbelt on.'

Ritsuko stared dumbly at the undone seatbelt. 'Uh...uh...yes...of course.'

The NERV agent gave what might have been considered a "smile", more a feelingless upturning of the corners of the mouth, before returning to his usual stone-cold face, moving up the aisle and back into his seat.

Ritsuko clicked the seatbelt back into place.

'Doctor...' she mumbled, as she felt the lurch of the plane coming in for landing.

* * *

><p>Shinji, forearms thrust under his pillow, eyes looking towards the ceiling, listening to Track 24 on his tape player for what seemed like the first time in months, no, years, went back over the moments after the Fifth Angel had been destroyed in his head. It was like a film, flickering and chattering as each piece of celluloid drifted past his face.<p>

First, he didn't know what to think. The Angel, involuntarily, had killed itself. The first he knew of it was when the long, purple drill-bit of the abomination, which had doubled as a "barrel" for its energy-beam, had crumbled and shattered into white sparks that licked at the ground. It was then he had, for the first time in a long time, clapped, cheered and laughed. It felt good.

And then he remembered getting out of the Eva. And they patted him on the back and said he did well...but Ayanami didn't get any congratulations. He had congratulated Ayanami on her quick thinking. She had looked back at him blankly, as if she didn't understand. When he tried to explain, she didn't seem to grasp it. She stayed quiet, as usual.

And then he stood there, and he considered telling her that perhaps she could try a smile, but when she looked at him, he realised she really didn't understand. So he didn't tell her to do that. And then he went home, and went to sleep, same as any other night.

Why was that?

Misato was out. She'd been called by his father to explain her absence on that "Jet Alone" thing. Somewhere, at the back of his mind, Shinji hoped that she wouldn't get fired. She was a slob, granted, but not that bad. He just hoped that Father would not be too hard on her.

And then there was that guy. The Doctor. Shinji had heard all too many people distrusting him. He didn't know what to think. The Doctor had tried to help, but it seemed his makeshift plan didn't work properly. It was only the fact that Ayanami had stepped in at the last moment that they had survived.

So, then, that was it. Shinji stopped the tape once again, and tried to get some sleep. When it became apparent he couldn't, he put the ear-buds back in. The silence was deafening without them.

* * *

><p>The Doctor rolled out on his creeper from under the control panel, and opened and closed his hand in a signal to Amy. 'Spanner. No...yes...no, wait, tape measure.' Amy moved her hands from left to right in confusion. She gave it to him. He'd been like this for ages now.<p>

'Screwdriver...actually, sponge. Then screwdriver.'

Amy passed over the sponge.

'Wet it first, for goodness' sake!'

'How? There's no bathroom here!'

'No bathroom? No bathroom? 'course there's a bathroom. You just go over there, take a left, then a right, then another left, go up the ramp, down the stairs to your...north-east, and then take another left, all right?'

'Um...yeah, I think.'

'You have no clue, do you?'

'Nope.'

'Take this map,' the Doctor said, 'The bathrooms are coloured in red on the map.'

'Which shade of red?'

'Crimson,' the Doctor replied. 'Um, just be careful, there's no lighting here, what with the TARDIS having no power, and all. Amy? Amy?' She didn't reply. She was gone. The Doctor returned to his work.

In reality, he was working to take his mind off of the realisation he had. It was feasible Rei would have been down there and would have touched the TARDIS...but why? It was surreal, really. Rei was a young girl with blue hair and red eyes, and it never seemed to come up. At first, the Doctor suspected it might be an issue of politeness, but now, it seemed more "off" that nobody seemed to pay attention to it.

The Doctor just couldn't seem to work out why Rei looked so bizarre, at least to his eyes. He shook his head as if to brush away the thoughts. Here he was, trapped in 21st-century Japan, in a parallel universe, with a very angry Commander breathing down his neck. He could tell this wasn't going to end well.

He was just thankful that the TARDIS could translate Japanese telepathically like that. Without it, he would have a lot of trouble...communicating...

The Doctor slapped himself on the forehead. 'Of course!' came the shout, as he rolled out on the creeper once more. 'I'm such an idiot!'

He climbed up the steps to the control panel. 'There's got to be something...' he said, gazing at it. He looked up and down. He circled it very slowly. And then, he saw it.

It was obscured, yes, but it was clearly a small, teal dot, glowing.

The Doctor delicately—that is to say, he took a spanner and brought it down with forces rivalling a fighter plane—opened the control panel and reached in, putting his arm past various knobs, buttons and switches, before feeling a tiny bit of heat. His hand wrapped around the dot and pulled it out.

The Doctor sat down with it. A tiny part of the TARDIS was still alive, just like it had been the last time he had been in this situation.

Amy returned with the wet sponge. 'Doctor, I got the—'

'Amy, I'm not going to need that sponge any more.'

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an electronic, cigar-shaped object. The sonic screwdriver. He joined the glowing speck to the screwdriver, and it suddenly made a weak buzzing noise. The Doctor blew calmly on to the glowing object. The sonic screwdriver suddenly began buzzing more and more intensely.

'She's not dead,' the Doctor said, happily. 'She's just sleeping.'

* * *

><p>'Captain Katsuragi, your behaviour in the wake of the destruction of the Fifth Angel has been...unsatisfactory, at best.' Commander Ikari's icy stare met Misato's like a laser pointed right at her.<p>

'Yes, sir. My behaviour was totally inappropriate, sir.'

'Yes. I warn you, Captain, that behaviour like this is not tolerated at NERV. I already have one person under warning, I do not need another. Now, leave.'

'Yes, sir.' Misato said, respectfully bowing and leaving the room.

She huffed in relief as soon as she got out. She was convinced the Commander would demote her back to Lieutenant, which would have not only been embarassing, but would have taken away her authority entirely.

Her boots made clopping noises as she walked back to the Command Center. Not that Ritsuko was going to be there. Perhaps she could try striking up some conversation with the technicians. It wasn't often that she got a chance to properly speak to them, but today it just felt right.

Picking up her pace a little bit, Misato tried to take her mind off of the Commander. All she had to do was be good and try not to drink so much...

...or at all...

Misato groaned. This was not going to be easy.

* * *

><p>Ritsuko's eyebrows, which were quite noticeably darker than her bleach-blonde hair, lowered as the crowd of people laughed at not only her, but all of NERV. She looked up at Shiro Tokita, the leader of the Jet Alone project, the smug grin across his face filling her with quiet rage. She'd just made a rather good argument as to why sending out a robot with a dangerous nuclear reactor was completely idiotic, only for Tokita to shrug it off with possibly the unfunniest sexist joke she had ever heard.<p>

'The Evangelions are not only utterly useless,' Tokita said, 'But dangerous, too! Just look at this picture we discovered from the recent battle against these "Angels"!' He held up an image with the caption, "A BERSERK EVA-01", showing a rather stark image of EVA Unit-01 roaring as it went berserk during the battle with the Third Angel.

'Do we really want these things to be protecting us? I don't think so. Thus, the Jet Alone project is superior in many different ways. Wouldn't you agree..._Dr. Akagi_?' The crowd around Ritsuko's table, which only she sat at, having been shunned by everyone else, erupted in even louder guffaws, Tokita joining in this time.

_I swear to God..._ Ritsuko thought. _If I were Misato right now, I would have torn his head off and eaten it ten minutes ago._

'...oh, oh,' Tokita said, trying to get his breath back. 'But enough of this. We will convene here later on to watch the demonstration of the new Jet Alone in action. For now, help yourself to some cocktails at the bar, courtesy of us at the Jet Alone Corporation. Just don't drink too much—we don't want you getting too rowdy. _Right, Dr. Akagi?_'

A little part of Ritsuko, buried away under all that stoicism, growled, in an otherwise disturbingly calm voice, _I am going to snap his neck. Watch me. I will go right up there and snap his neck._

Thankfully, one of the more logical parts of her said, _Now, now, let Mr. Tokita have his fun. Just stay calm._

Ritsuko gave a little smile as if to say, "All right, fine, whatever," and then the laughter died down quite dramatically. Ritsuko sat down. She was done arguing. The audience grew bored and left to grab the cocktails and numb themselves nicely for the launch of the giant Angel-fighting robot. Ritsuko was growing increasingly suspicious that they were there for the alcohol and perhaps the off-chance they might get to see something blow something up.

Lucky them.

* * *

><p>Amy was getting used to the terminals at NERV now. Whether it was that she was still relatively youthful or because she had been conditioned into fearing Shigeru's often extreme reactions to asking how to get the "help" button up, she was getting the hang of it. It was that manual that did it. She barely needed to ask Shigeru for help any more, thankfully.<p>

She looked over to the empty seat that the Doctor was _supposed_ to be sitting and working in. Of course, the Doctor being the Doctor, he seemingly had an aversion to doing anything remotely work-related. In fact, she wasn't sure where he was. She was trying to get by with work at the moment in order to avoid having to explain the time machine she arrived in was almost repaired so she could go home, because then she would have to explain she was from a parallel universe, and that would just be awkward.

Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Amy whipped round and looked. It was Captain Katsuragi.

'Oh, Captain, I...am I...can I get you something?'

'No, Amy,' Captain Katsuragi said. 'And please, call me Misato.'

'All right, Misato, what do you need?'

'I'd like to apologise. I know, it sounds dumb, it happened a long time ago now, but I just feel sorry for hitting you across the face. You were right. I should have treated Shinji better. I just wish I'd seen that at the time. So, uh...yeah. That's kinda my apology.' She avoided eye contact and coughed.

Amy looked up at her. 'That's okay.'

'Yeah.' Misato nodded and walked away. Amy paused for a moment.

'Hey, Misato?' Amy said.

'Yes?'

'Thanks.'

Misato nodded and turned away.

* * *

><p>'Control rods, full release.'<p>

'Engine going through critical point.'

'No problems with the power.'

'Start walking!' Tokita said, the biggest of grins crossing his face.

'Move ahead slowly. Raise right foot ahead.'

'Roger that.'

Ritsuko watched as the enormous cream-and-red robot's took its first step. There was, admittedly, a rather satisfying "crunch" noise when it walked that you just didn't get with the Evas.

'Balance is nominal.'

'Engine is nominal.'

'Roger. Next stage, move left foot ahead.'

With another crunch, the robot's left foot met the ground. It was walking normally.

Suddenly, a beeping noise came from one of the computers.

'What? What's that? What's wrong?' Tokita asked, looking from left to right.

'No way...reactor pressure...is increasing!'

'The temperature of the first level cooling liquid is also rising!'

'God have mercy!' Tokita shouted. 'Open the release valve! Pump in the neutron deceleration fluid!'

'Negative! The pumps aren't responding!'

A very small, devilish smile crossed Ritsuko's face.

'Stop power! Emergency halt!'

'Transmission of the "halt" signal is being verified...it's not being accepted!'

'The wireless connection did not carry!'

'This can't be happening...' Tokita said. 'Impossible...'

'It's out of control..._it's coming this way!_'

'NO!' Tokita shouted. 'RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!'

Ritsuko was smiling.

* * *

><p>The NERV alarm, usually reserved for Angel attacks only, howled loudly.<p>

_VWEE-RP! VWEE-RP!_

Makoto Hyuga, who had until that point been enjoying an issue of _Weekly Sh__ō__nen Jump_, suddenly leapt into action. 'Status report?'

'Uh...' Maya Ibuki shouted from across the deck, 'We have a negative for Angels. Alert is for...a nuclear meltdown?'

'Nuclear?' Misato said, running up to view the main screen. 'Ritsuko said something about that robot being nuclear!'

'What, what do you mean?' Amy asked, as the main screen came on, revealing a massive robot walking in one direction. 'Meltdown time is estimated in two hours, if that,' Shigeru Aoba announced. 'It's heading for Tokyo-3...the explosion from that thing will take out much of the city!'

'Damnit!' Misato shouted. 'Get the Commander.'

'What about the Doctor?' Amy said, as the Commander arrived at his desk. 'That will not be necessary, Lieutenant Pond.'

'Lieutenant?' Makoto said, before being shot a 'not now' glance by Misato.

'But...'

'Lieutenant Pond, turn back to your computer.'

'Yes, sir,' Amy said, reluctantly.

'Good. The Jet Alone robot must be allowed to continue towards the city, at which point we will stop it.'

'But sir, arrival time is estimated in three hours,' Maya announced. 'The robot will melt down before then!'

'I see. I was not aware of this.'

'Let me stop it!' Misato cried. 'I'll shut it down.'

'That's very heroic of you, Misato,' a voice said from in the doorway. It was The Doctor. He smiled. 'Hello there. I heard the alarm and got here as soon as.'

'As soon as?' Amy said. 'The alarm went off ten minutes ago.'

'Patience, Pond, patience,' the Doctor said, waltzing into the room as Ikari's eyebrows drooped.

'So, let's see here. Giant robot. Not an Evangelism, or whatever you call those things. Two hours to meltdown. Nuclear power? Didn't you lot learn _anything_ from Chernobyl?'

'Doctor!' Ikari said. 'Your services are not needed here! Please leave!'

'Well, what on earth are you doing about it, then?'

Ikari paused for a moment. 'Waiting for it to get here so we can shut it down.'

'Waiting for it to...Ikari, you're a very intelligent man, and I respect that, but that is by far the most stupid thing I have ever heard anyone like you ever say. Ever.'

'Well, Doctor, what do you intend to do about it?'

'Um, well...' the Doctor looked embarrassed. 'Okay, so I hadn't thought of that.'

'One hour and fifteen minutes to meltdown,' Shigeru announced.

'Thanks, thanks, that's helping,' the Doctor said. 'Right, okay...er...is there anyone there from NERV who might be able to help?'

Misato's face suddenly fell. 'Ritsuko...!'

* * *

><p>Ritsuko's phone rang suddenly. She was covered in dust from the robot's foot, which had come crashing through the ceiling, destroying the room.<p>

'Hello?'

'Hello, Ritsuko, it's the Doctor.'

'Doctor?' Ritsuko straightened up. 'Right. Doctor. Hello.'

'We understand you just saw a giant, nuclear-powered robot malfunction and go walking off towards Tokyo-3?'

'I did.'

'Right. Is there anything you can do to stop it?'

'No, Doctor, I'm afraid,' she said. 'The thing will either have to melt down or burn out.'

'Ritsuko, you sound strangely calm.'

'I do? Oh, no, this is a coping mechanism, I'm terrified.'

'Right,' the Doctor said. Ritsuko hoped he bought it. 'Okay. Right. Um. Oh. Oh dear.'

'What?' Ritsuko said.

'Well, I don't have a plan. Hmmm. We're all going to die,' he said, rather calmly.

Amy quickly realised that the Doctor was trying to say, "Any ideas?"

'Any ideas?' she said, to help him.

Misato coughed. 'Well, it's a makeshift plan, but it could work.'

'What is it?'

'Well...'

* * *

><p>Ritsuko was rather confused. She was back on a jet again, in a pressurised radiation suit, about to climb into the Jet Alone and, ahem, shut it down. Multiple calls for the classified secret password to shut down the machine had all but failed, until Tokita had finally seen sense and realised he'd rather fill out tons of paperwork, or better yet, be fired, rather than die in horrible third-degree-burned agony.<p>

Should she tell them? No. Especially not the Doctor. Play along.

Misato had at first insisted she do it, but Ritsuko had taken the opportunity to stop her. If she saw the reactor...

'Ready, Ritsuko?' the voice came over the radio, as the Evangelion disconnected from the plane and fell to earth, with Ritsuko the relative size of an action figure in its hand.

'Yes,' she said, tersely. She hadn't even spoken to Shinji. Misato had done that.

The Evangelion chased after the fast-moving machine as it stomped towards Tokyo-3.

'Are you ready, Shinji?' she asked.

'Uh, right, Ritsuko,' the boy replied, reaching out and grabbing a conveniently-shaped piece of piping on the robot's back.

Ritsuko came off of the giant's hand and on to a ladder, safely entering the robot as Shinji held it in place in the Evangelion.

The NERV staff listened intently to the radio. 'I'm currently entering the reactor,' Ritsuko said. She approached the computer.

'Thirty minutes to meltdown,' Shigeru announced.

Outside, gaskets and bolts began blowing off the machine as its pressure began to reach maximum.

'Misato...I can't...hold it for much longer...'

'Just hang in there, Shinji.'

'What's the password?' Ritsuko asked.

'It's HOPE,' Maya Ibuki said.

'Right,' Ritsuko replied. She looked for the kanji for 'Hope', or its equivalent to her. Slowly, she typed it out. She knew, of course, the password would not be accepted.

She was behind all this, after all.

The 'ERROR' message bleeped on screen.

'Oh, no!' Ritsuko feigned. 'It's not accepting the password.'

'Damn!' Misato said. 'Try anything! Manually shut it down if you have to!'

Ritsuko tried pushing on the cores. She, of course, knew this was futile, and knew what was coming next.

With a low-pitched hum, the cores slid back into place and the lighting changed from red to green.

'I did it.'

NERV was quiet for a moment. Then there was a sigh of relief. 'Well done, Dr. Akagi,' Ikari said. 'Doctor, you may go now.'

'Thank you, sir,' the Doctor said, bowing and walking out.

* * *

><p>'I apologise for making you do that earlier, Dr. Akagi,' Commander Ikari said, hands folded. 'I did not wish to arouse suspicion.'<p>

'Well, it seems that despite the Doctor's intervention, everything went according to the plan,' Ritsuko replied.

'Yes. Indeed.' Ikari said. 'I shall...see you later, Dr. Akagi...that is, Ritsuko.'

'And you too, sir.' Ritsuko turned on her heel and walked towards the door. Only she truly knew what Ikari meant by "see you later". She was horribly ashamed, but it was all she could do.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's note: <em>**_Phew. Finally. Apologies for the OOC Ritsuko. I was trying my best to make the disappointing Episode 7 seem more exciting. I think I half-succeeded. I'm also sorry for being gone for so long. I've had writer's block. But I'm better now _^_^

_Anyway, the next chapter or two should be more exciting. I'm pretty sure anyone familiar with the series can guess why._

_Until then, it's goodbye from me. And make sure to review, as I always, ALWAYS value what you have to say. Reviews brighten my day, so I'd be really glad to see some _:D

_Bye!_

* * *

><p><em>All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.<em>


	13. Der Rotschopf Kommt

**Chapter XIII**

**Der Rotschopf Kommt**

'Correct,' Ikari stated, bluntly. 'I have already made the necessary arrangements with the Committee. The cargo left port yesterday. It's making its way over here.' He hung up quickly. Soon.

* * *

><p>'A MIG-55D transport helicopter! I never thought I'd get a chance to fly on one. Oh boy, it's great to have a famous buddy like you, huh, Shinji?' Kensuke, the hardcore military <em>otaku<em> that he was, was practically oozing geeky passion all over the aforementioned helicopter with excitement. Shinji, sat next to him with Toji on his other side, was beginning to worry it was going to stain.

'Well, I thought it was a little stuffy being stuck in the mountains all day, so I thought I'd ask all of you out on this little date,' Misato smiled, playfully.

'Huh? So, uh, this is like, a real date?' Toji said. He'd seen her before, just after the incident with the Fourth Angel, and had instantly fallen in love with her, in the way only teenage boys do.

Of course, he'd begged to come in and see her when she was still suffering with her hangover, only to be turned away by Shinji after much persuasion. Much, _much_ persuasion. Kensuke was the same, but was presently pre-occupied with the whole military _otaku _thing to worry about girls. Usually it was hard to get him out of the house unless it was for school or war games (hence "_otaku_").

'cos, I bought this hat just for today, all special-like. Do ya like it? I'll never, ever take it off.'

Misato, girlishly side-stepping Toji's enthusiasm, continued. 'We're going to land on that cute little boat over there.' She pointed at it. Kensuke was by this point shedding tears of joy. 'Oh my God! One...two...three four five...FIVE aircraft carriers and four battleships. This is the BEST. DAY. EVER!'

'That's "cute"?' Toji asked, in disbelief.

'You bet it is!' Kensuke said. 'That's the regular carrier _Over the Rainbow_, the pride of the U.N. Forces!'

Misato smiled at the innocent young obsessed nerd, filming everything he could with his camera. 'I'm surprised such a rusty old relic is still afloat!'

'Relic? No, no, that's vintage, from pre-Second Impact.'

'You guys are on the first helicopter. We've got another one following us with some NERV staff on it. I thought I might show them around.'

'You didn't...' Shinji replied.

Misato grinned widely. 'Oh, but I did.'

* * *

><p>The Doctor and Amy sat in the back of the second helicopter as it flew over the sea.<p>

'Well, it certainly was nice of Misato to invite us along for a little trip out,' the Doctor said. 'Apparently, she's going to take us through protocol and such. She had to pull a lot of strings to get us here.'

Amy was busy staring out of the window. She was wearing the NERV female uniform, for "protocol reasons".

'Amy...Amy?'

'What?'

'Were you listening?'

'Yeah, I was just...waiting for the boats to show up.'

'I don't think they're...wait, there they are!'

The Doctor looked out of his window to see five aircraft carriers and four battleships all steadily moving through the sea.

'Wow,' was the only thing Amy was able to say.

'Wow indeed,' the Doctor said. He turned to the pilot. 'Did you say this is a UN helicopter?'

'Uh, yes sir,' the pilot replied. 'A MIG-55D.'

'Right, right. Looks like the UN stepped up their game after the Second Impact.'

'Yes, that's correct, sir.'

'Ah. Well, that would explain NERV, then.'

'Sir, please don't distract me when I'm flying.'

The Doctor sank back into his seat, arms folded. He mumbled something stroppily to himself.

'What was that, sir?'

'Nothing.'

* * *

><p>'Bloody hell. Would you believe they're actually flying in a power supply for that child's toy of theirs?' the Captain of the UNS <em>Over the Rainbow<em> and Admiral of the Fleet said. 'What a joke.'

'NERV is part of the UN too, sir,' the First Officer stood next to him tried to add, knowing it to be in vain.

'Pah! Part of the UN? Part of the UN, my arse. That's like saying _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ is a science textbook.' The Admiral paused. 'Hey, look at this! They're bringing in...they've only gone and brought in _two _bloody helicopters! The cheek of it!'

'Sir, we were told prior they'd be bringing two helicopters.'

'Who? Who told me this? When?'

'In the memo, sir.' The First Officer held it up.

The Admiral looked at it. 'Oh. Right. Well, it's still out of order.'

The First Officer's face was buried well into his palm by this point.

* * *

><p>The yellow MIGs finally landed on board the <em>Over the Rainbow<em> quite quickly, and everyone quickly climbed off as soon as they had got on.

'How was your flight?' Misato asked the Doctor as he clambered onto the boat.

'Pleasant,' The Doctor replied, standing up. There was a loud cracking noise. 'Ow...my back.'

'Are you all right?' Amy asked.

'Yeah, nine hundred years and this thing's still going strong I said that out loud, didn't I.'

The others stared at him. 'Nine hundred years?'

'Um...yes. Nine hundred years.' Amy replied. 'Is British slang for...forty-five years.'

'Why did you have to make me that old?' the Doctor replied, before Amy covered his mouth to shut him up.

Everyone quickly forgot this, however, as flight crew came to greet the new arrivals. One of them, obviously the main man, due to his badge, came up and spoke directly to them.

'I'm going to need to just quickly check you in,' he said, holding up a list of names. 'Katsuragi, Misato? Check. Ikari, Shinji? Check. Suzuhara, Toji? Check. Aida, Kensuke? Check.' He stopped at the sight of the Doctor and Amy. 'May I ask your names and see identification?'

'They're with me,' Misato said.

'It's standard procedure, ma'am,' the flight crew leader replied. The Doctor smiled and pulled out a NERV identification card. 'Doctor, The. Is this a joke?'

'No, sir, I'm the Doctor.'

'Right...Pond, Amelia. Well, this looks okay. Go through. Have a nice day.'

The motley band of NERV members, _otaku_ and jock set out on to the main deck. Unfortunately for said jock, this meant his hat being blown away by a sudden gust of sea wind.

'Hey! Wait, come back! Stop! Stop, damn you!'

Kensuke, meanwhile, was filled with pleasure at being allowed to run around videoing F-14 Tomcats and whatnot.

Misato looked around, shielding her eyes from the sun. 'Where is she?'

'"She"?' the Doctor asked. 'Who do you mean?'

His question was answered instantly.

Standing there, dressed in a yellow summer-dress and red closed-toe sandals, with long, twin-tailed , brilliant red hair held in place by two red hair-clips, and piercing, bright blue, assured eyes, was a teenage girl, hands on her hips, with a triumphant-looking smile on her face.

She took a few steps forward just as a hat appeared under her left foot out of nowhere, much to Toji's annoyance.

'Hallo, Misato,' she said. 'How are you?'

'As well as ever,' Misato replied. 'My, my, you have gotten tall, now, haven't you?'

'_Ja_! And not just taller—my figure has filled out, too!'

'Shinji, Doctor, Amy, meet the exclusive pilot of EVA Unit-02, the Second Child, Asuka Langley Soryu!'

The frustrated Toji continued pulling and pulling at his hat under the girl's sandal. Which was when the wind blew her skirt up, to his misfortune.

The Doctor winced as she slapped Toji hard across the cheek.

'What'd you do that for?' Toji shouted, now seemingly ignorant of his hat, which was blowing ever the closer to the edge of the deck.

'That's the viewing fee. Quite a bargain, _nicht_?'

'It's overpriced, but that's okay. Here's your change!'

Amy winced as Toji proceeded to pull his trousers _and_ underwear down, allowing Asuka a view of, to put it in polite terms, "the full package".

'_Unverschämter_ _idiot_!' she shouted, hitting him once again on the other side of his face, leaving him beet red.

'So which one of you is the Third Child?' Asuka asked, looking from left to right. 'Ach, _nein_,' she remarked, looking at Toji. She looked at The Doctor for a moment. 'Not you. You're too old. And your face is too long.' The Doctor opened his mouth, but Amy shook her head.

'Don't worry, Asuka,' Misato said. 'It's him.' she pointed to Shinji.

'Hm. Not much to look at,' she said, bending down. She was obviously being condescending, as she was only a couple of inches taller than him. 'And who would these two be?'

'These two are Lt. Doctor and Lt. Amy Pond. They're new at NERV, and I decided to introduce them to the new pilot.'

The Doctor walked up to her and held out a hand. 'Hello, I'm the Doctor,' he said, holding out a hand.

'Hi,' Asuka responded, bluntly. She very flimsily shook the Doctor's hand, as if disinterested.

'Hi, I'm Amy,' Amy said.

'Hello,' Asuka replied. 'I was not aware I wasn't the only _rotschopf_ on this ship...' She narrowed her eyes at Amy.

'Now, Asuka, don't be jealous,' Misato warned. 'Come on, we've got to go speak to the ship's captain.'

* * *

><p>'Hmm. NERV. And from your antics on the deck, I was quite sure you were the leader of this boy-scout troop. Obviously I was mistaken,' the Admiral said, in his thick English accent, or at least, that's what it sounded like to The Doctor and Amy. He was probably speaking Japanese in reality, as Misato understood him.<p>

'Thank you for understanding, Admiral,' Misato said, keeping a straight face. The Doctor noted that the Admiral was even more condescending than Asuka.

'No, no, no. Thank _you_ for giving me _more_ children to babysit. And _another_ helicopter, with yet _more_ unnecessary NERV personnel. You're just too kind, Captain Katsuragi.'

Misato remained remarkably steadfast against the Admiral's rudeness. 'We appreciate your assistance with the marine transport of Evangelion Unit-02. Here are the specifications for the emergency power socket,' she said, passing it over.

The Admiral laughed. 'I'd never allow you to run that doll on the sea, _my_ territory, in the first place!'

The Doctor stepped in. 'But what if an Angel were to attack?'

'Don't be an idiot,' the Admiral said. 'We'll fight it off with our ships.'

'You do know how useless conventional weapons are against the Angels, right?' Misato said.

'I'll believe that when I see it,' the Admiral replied. 'Transporting a child's toy. Bah. When did the UN turn us into bloody cargo haulers?'

'I do believe it was when a certain organisation was set up, sir,' the First Officer replied.

'Guarding a toy! What a grand assignment for the whole Pacific fleet.'

'Considering the EVA's importance, it's still lacking. Sign these forms, please.'

'Not yet.' Misato's face finally began to show signs of frustration. 'At the request of NERV's Third Branch, Evangelion Unit-02 is under this fleet's command. I'm not letting you do as you please!'

'When will you relinquish command?'

'We'll unload the cargo at New Yokosuka. Then you may have command. Remember, I am in charge of everything that happens on the sea in this fleet. Not you. You will follow my orders without question!'

'Understood. Just remember yourself, Admiral, that NERV's power exceeds yours in an emergency.'

'She's awesome,' Toji said, face still recovering from the hits dealt to his face.

'She sounds just like Ritsuko,' Shinji mumbled.

'Well, you're just as confident as ever,' a voice called from the other side of the bridge. Asuka's face lit up at the sound of it.

'Kaji!'

The Doctor turned to see a broad-shouldered man in a loose tie, with an unshaven face. He had a ponytail, and was waving to them. He spoke in a very sophisticated manner, which while casual still had an air of panache about it.

'Mr. Kaji, I must insist that you stop inviting yourself onto the bridge!'

Misato made a couple of choking noises, and then her face fell.

'Oh, sorry about that,' Kaji apologised, backing out of the room.

Misato made a move to leave the room as well. 'Please excuse us. Transport us to New Yokosuka as ordered!' Misato saluted, and the group left.

'Damn. Those children are mankind's salvation?'

'I suppose the times are changing, sir. I heard the Assembly has put their hopes in that robot as well.'

'In that child's plaything? Idiots! If they've got the money to blow on that they ought to give us a little more!'

* * *

><p>The lifts on the <em>Over the Rainbow<em> were absurdly small. That said, the group hadn't done such a bad job of packing six people into one. They would have tried for eight, but Amy and the Doctor had agreed they should stay above and wait. The Doctor was quite fascinated by the lift, jokingly referring to it as an "inverse TARDIS", in that it appeared smaller on the inside. Not that anyone other than Amy got the joke.

'What the hell are you doing here?' Misato asked, Shinji awkwardly wedged into a certain _special area_ on her chest.

'Well, I'm with her, of course,' Kaji said, trying to move his left hand from the top right corner of the elevator and point at Asuka, and failing miserably. 'I'm on a business trip, of sorts.'

'Talk about careless,' Misato mumbled. 'I should have expected this.'

Suddenly, Kaji's right hand crossed the border into a place where it shouldn't have been going. Toji's left evidently did the same to Asuka.

'Hey, watch where you're touching!' they both shouted.

'I can't help it!' the hapless males replied.

* * *

><p>Deep below the fleet, quiet, but audible, there came a low screech. A bioluminescent, hellish red flared out in warning. Unfortunately, nobody was there to take heed. The roar quietened down and its source kept a close eye on its prey.<p>

* * *

><p>'So,' the Doctor said to Amy, as they waited for the lift to get back up to them. 'What do you think of this new girl?'<p>

'She's a bit scary,' Amy said. 'I mean, I remember what I was like when I was fourteen, but...'

'She's a German,' the Doctor said, non-sequitur. 'She keeps throwing words in to her speech from her mother tongue. It's great. It's a bit like Poirot.'

'What was her name, again?' Amy asked.

'Asuka Langley Soryu,' the Doctor replied. 'Hmmm. "Langley" implies...British...no, American, heritage, maybe? And "Soryu" is Japanese. So, she's German, with Japanese and American heritage. That's quite a mixture. Then again, I suppose times are tough...' he speculated, before realising how filthy he sounded.

'Ah-s-ka,' Amy repeated, slowly, to get a feel for the Japanese name.

'Yes. That's A-S-U-K-A,' the Doctor said. 'Just a word of advice: Don't say "ass-oo-kah." She won't like that.'

'Noted,' Amy replied, as the lift reached the their floor.

'Blimey, these things are small,' the Doctor said, climbing in.

'You got that right,' Amy replied, climbing in to the lift with him. Even though there were two people in there, she still felt as if her personal space was being invaded.

The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver.

'Doctor, please don't fiddle with that in here,' Amy replied.

'Why not?' the Doctor said. 'You scared I'm gonna do this?' He pressed the button, and for a moment the lift fell. Amy let out a squeak.

The Doctor laughed. 'Well, it's working, just about. Still not very good at useful stuff like opening doors, mind. All it can do is make a funny noise and make little things like making elevators fall a bit faster happen at the moment. I do hope the TARDIS gets better soon.'

'Yeah,' Amy said. 'But then, everyone would wonder why you had that thing. You still haven't let them know that you're not a human. You're a Time Lord.'

'Well, strictly speaking, Pond,' the Doctor speculated, 'Here, you're not a human either. We're both aliens.'

'I keep forgetting this is a parallel universe,' Amy said. 'It's just so real.'

'It _is_ real,' the Doctor replied. 'But it's not _your_ reality.'

'Do you think we'll ever get back to my reality?' Amy asked, sadly.

'Yes,' the Doctor said. 'We will. Eventually. But it's not like it's boring here. Hell, we're getting nearly killed practically every day! And what's not exciting about that?'

'Your mind works in really weird ways, Doctor,' Amy said, as the elevator made its way to the café floor.

* * *

><p>'So,' Kaji playfully chuckled. 'Do you have a boyfriend?'<p>

'I don't think that's any of your business, is it?' Misato replied, stubbornly.

'I'm hurt,' Kaji said, sarcastically. 'Ow.' He turned to Shinji. 'So, I understand that you're living with Katsuragi?'

'Uh, yeah,' the boy said, quietly, but happily.

'Tell me something, is she still so...wild in bed?'

The clatter of teacups was heard as everyone besides Kaji and Shinji leant back a phenomenal and physics-defying amount on their chairs.

'Just what are you implying by that?' Misato shouted, red in the face from more than just anger.

'No, she hasn't changed at all, has she, Shinji?'

'Um...I guess...' Shinji replied, naïvely. 'But how did you know what my name was?'

'Well, I ought to know you, you're pretty famous in the defence business, you know! The famous Third Child, who piloted an Eva in his first battle with no prior training!'

'Oh, that...I...I was just lucky.'

Asuka began to glare jealously at him. She ignored what they were actually saying, and tuned it out. She was beginning to dislike this Third Child, more than she had at first sight, too.

The Doctor and Amy entered the room.

'Sorry we're late,' the Doctor said. He looked around the table to see Kaji. 'Ah, I don't think we've met,' the Doctor said, offering a hand to him. 'Hello, I'm the Doctor.'

'Ryoji Kaji,' Kaji replied, shaking the Doctor's hand. Misato was clutching her forehead and looking at the table by this point, mumbling to herself, 'It's a bad dream...it's a nightmare...!'

'But everyone calls me Kaji.'

'Well, it's nice to meet you, Kaji,' the Doctor said. 'I think we'll get along just fine.'

'Do you know Katsuragi?'

The Doctor laughed. 'Are you joking? She tried to lock me up when we first met!'

'No way, me too!' Kaji said. 'Though possibly not in the same way as you mean.' He raised his eyebrows a couple of times.

Misato was rolling her head around on the table, trying to drown out the idle conversation.

'Shut up, shut up, shut up...'

Kaji looked at his watch. 'Oh, Doctor...uh...'

'It's just "The Doctor"', the Doctor said.

'...I need to do something. I'll see you all later. Goodbye, Katsuragi.'

Asuka stood up almost automatically and followed him out of the room like a duckling.

The Doctor turned as he went. 'He's a nice guy. I like him.'

By this point, Misato was cowering under the table.

* * *

><p>'So, what do you think about Shinji Ikari?'<p>

'Oh, the _great_ Third Child? He's boring.'

'And yet, his synchronisation ratio was over forty per cent in combat with no prior training...!'

'_Mein Gott!_'

* * *

><p>'That admiral's attitude gets on my nerves,' Toji remarked.<p>

'He's full of himself, all right,' Misato laughed. 'Too much pride's bound to make him cynical.'

The Doctor and Amy were thankful that the escalator everyone was currently riding had room for everyone this time. The Doctor agreed, in his mind. That admiral was far too proud. It was things like that that had caused the trouble, way back then...No. Don't think about that.

'That Mr. Kaji's pretty, um, uh, interesting, eh?' Shinji said, with an air of what was obviously sarcasm.

'He hasn't changed at all, that chauvinistic pig!'

It suddenly occurred to the Doctor that befriending this man might end badly. Still, what was life without taking risks?

'Hey, Third Child!' Shinji turned in the direction of the voice. Standing atop the escalator was Asuka. 'You're coming with me.'

Shinji hurriedly followed her. He didn't quite understand why, but her voice kind of said "I'll rip your head off if you don't do as I say, sweetie."

The Doctor looked up at them.

'Well, they seem to be getting along nicely.'

Nobody said anything in return, but in an unnervingly awkward way, as if everyone had forgotten at that moment what their response should be.

The Doctor, in particular, felt very strange all of a sudden. It wasn't quite déjà vu he felt as it was the opposite, as if somehow things had been different before. The merest utterance of the words "Well, they seem to be getting along nicely" seemed to him to have changed something. As if everything had taken a set pattern before, and somehow, he had just broken this pattern. For a moment or two, he could feel something circular unravel before him and then suddenly go silent.

He shuddered.

'Are you cold, Doctor?' Shinji asked.

'Um, no,' the Doctor mumbled. 'Just, well, I'm a bit...I feel...strange.'

They reached the top of the escalator after what seemed like forever.

The Doctor almost shouted, 'Um, Amy, do you mind?'

He took Amy aside and said to Misato that they'd catch up as she took them off.

'What's wrong?' Amy asked. 'Is something bothering you?'

'Yes,' the Doctor said. 'Something feels off. Different. Something isn't right, here, and I don't know what it is.'

'What do you mean?'

'I feel like this has happened before.'

'What, you mean like déjà vu?'

'No...I don't feel like I've done this before. I just feel like it's happened before.'

'Doctor, you're not making any sense.'

'Yes, well, I rarely do,' the Doctor chuckled. 'There's something about that Kaji bloke, though. I think I might go and talk to him. I have a strange feeling he has something to do with this.'

'Let me guess...'

'I want you to go and...'

'You want me to go off with Misato and the others and look at boats and planes?'

'Yes. Don't worry. It'll be fine. I'll be gone an hour at most.'

'Fine,' Amy sighed. 'See you later.'

She swiftly turned on her heel.

'That was easier than I thought,' the Doctor said to himself. He decided it best to find where Kaji was, maybe knock at his quarters. After all, if he was on this boat, he had to live somewhere, right? But how to find out?

Suddenly, a friendly-looking sailor walked past him.

'Psychic paper, don't fail me now,' he said, pulling it out and walking over to him. 'You, sir! You wouldn't happen to know where I could find a fellow by the name of Ryoji Kaji, would you?'

* * *

><p>Shinji looked up at the enormous, armour-plated beast, laid on its side. He was absent-mindedly listening to Asuka boasting about the superiority of her fully-fledged non-prototype Evangelion and how and why it was so amazing and why she was better than him. He was switching rapidly between being annoyed by her and merely ignoring her. He was beginning to become more intrigued by the tarpaulin over the top of the great machine.<p>

_Is that nylon? At a pinch, I'd say it was some kind of plastic. Definitely not natural, this is waterproof. Why waterproof? What, do Evangelions get upset when they're wet? Do they not like showers?_

Had he actually made a joke about his extremely dangerous, psychologically-damaging line of work in his head? He had. Huh, humour. He remembered from somewhere that humour was a defence mechanism. That made sense.

'Are you listening to me?'

Shinji glanced up. 'Uh, what? Yeah. Red. Not a prototype.'

'I'm warning you, Third Child, I don't take kindly to being ignored.'

Somehow, Shinji felt a wash of bravery, unusually. 'Oh, I'm so scared!' he replied, sarcastically.

His mental notes would later tell him not to do that as the bruise on his cheek lasted for two days.

'And I don't take kindly to sarcasm, either,' Asuka snorted, as Shinji clutched the areas of his face where the capillaries had broken.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling.

'What's that?' Shinji asked.

'_Dummkopf_,' Asuka said. 'No battleship collision makes a vibration like that. Looks like I'm about to give my Evangelion a test run!'

* * *

><p>The Doctor stood outside Kaji's door. Having knocked a few times, he had considered the sensible option of looking elsewhere for him. Then he had decided the sensible option was boring, and had instead gone for the incredibly stupid option of potentially being arrested for breaking and entering. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the door, clicking the button a few times. It did nothing.<p>

'I really ought to make a note of the fact this thing still doesn't work on doors in this universe,' the Doctor mumbled, putting the screwdriver back in his pocket.

'Right,' he said. He'd found at NERV that precision and care was a load of rubbish and that brute force was the answer. So what could he use to bash the door in?

He noticed a conveniently-placed trolley nearby, for caches of torpedoes, presumably. He grinned and nodded.

'Geronimo!' he shouted, skating along on it towards Kaji's door. Moments later, he collided with the door loudly, causing it to rather anticlimactically open up as if nothing had happened. The Doctor struggled to his feet. He was bruised and had cut his hand a bit. But no matter, he was in, now. And a wonder he hadn't been noticed by any naval personnel.

The Doctor entered the room slowly. There was nobody there. It was a small room, with one bed, a chair, a dresser, and some blinds over the windows. The bed had a musty smell of what could only be described as testosterone and sweat. The Doctor reminded himself he was probably imagining it. He also noticed, stacked on the dresser, a box and a few bits and pieces. What was most interesting, however, was what was at the foot of the bed: A gym bag and a large, metal, secure, air-tight case with various warning stickers on it, with a jacket haphazardly slung over the top.

Looking from left to right, the Doctor saw fit to peek at the box, and tried to open it, to no avail. Of course. Why did he even try? He moved on to the gym bag and looked through its contents. Only a couple of books, a music player, a towel, a bag of Doritos, and, interestingly, a passport. The Doctor looked over the books. It appeared that Kaji was a reader of Haruki Murakami, which impressed the Doctor greatly. The Doctor also checked the music player, and played some music on it.

_I would give you anything, turn the winter into spring..._

The Doctor heard a click behind his back, and realised that perhaps breaking into an acquaintance's room to look through his stuff for no reason was perhaps a very, very bad idea.

_Ask the birds for their song at night..._

'What the hell do you think you're doing?' a deep, self-assured voice asked. The Doctor put his hands up. 'Kaji, I can explain. Well, I can't. But I can try to do so in a way that will make you not want to shoot me.'

_I would bring the stars to you, make your wishes all come true..._

'That's the English version of the song, isn't it?' the Doctor asked, trying not to get himself killed, as Kaji eyed him, pointing a pistol at his chest.

_Turn a grey sky to deepest blue..._

'Very odd for you to buy a U.S. release for a song from your native country.'

_Love me too..._

Kaji picked up the music player and quickly turned it off. 'I like the English language,' he replied. 'It sounds good to me.'

'Yes, yes it does,' the Doctor replied, trying to hide the fact he felt as though he himself was actually speaking English.

'I understand you're British, Doctor, but I should compliment you on your excellent Japanese skills.'

'Oh, it comes naturally,' the Doctor replied.

'What were you doing in my bags?' Kaji asked, holding the gun a little more tightly.

'Um, er,' the Doctor stammered, sweating. 'Well, I was just...I mean, you were out, and...'

'You should be careful, Doctor, you don't want to find out too much.'

'Well, I can tell you what I know already, and then you can decide whether or not to shoot me,' the Doctor said, hoping this wasn't a terrible decision.

'Go on, then,' Kaji replied. Charitable assassin.

'Well, from your belongings I can deduce that you sweat a lot and that's why you keep the towel, you like Akai Tori, you like Chilli Heatwave-flavoured Doritos, which I find the continued existence of surprising, by the way, considering the world blew up fifteen years ago, you're in rather a hurry to get away from here, which is why you have the passport, and you have a penchant for postmodernist literature with hints of magic realism, considering the fact that you're reading _Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World _and _Norwegian Wood_.'

Kaji was impressed. 'Actually, I prefer the cheese Doritos,' he mumbled, putting the gun down. 'Who the hell are you, Doctor?' he asked.

The Doctor wasn't quite sure what to say. 'Okay,' he mumbled. 'So you like magic realism, right? Ever heard of a writer called Jorge Luis Borges?'

'I'm not familiar with his work, but go on,' Kaji said.

'Have you heard of his story, _The Garden of Forking Paths_?' the Doctor asked, pressing on.

'Ah, yes, I think I have,' Kaji replied. 'That one about the Chinese spy.'

'Yes, well,' the Doctor said. 'In that story, Borges introduces the idea of what is known as an alternate timeline. Possibly related to parallel universes. The point at which a minute change anywhere in the universe can have massive differences to the whole later on.'

'Okay,' Kaji said, wondering what this had to do with the fact the Doctor was snooping through his stuff.

'Well, I don't know how to tell you this,' the Doctor replied, 'But I have come from a far-off, differently-forked path to yours. A world where the waters are still clean, where there is still an Antarctica and there are seven billion people walking this tiny planet you call home.'

Kaji paused.

'Don't make sick jokes like that, Doctor,' he replied. 'Second Impact really happened. You know that. We all do. Don't kid around about it. Fifteen years is still far too soon.'

'I'm not,' the Doctor said, sitting on Kaji's bed. 'I come,' he swallowed, 'from a completely alternate timeline. And I'm here to tell you that there is something very weird happening in this one.'

Kaji paused again.

He opened his mouth to respond, when suddenly, there was an explosion from outside. He grinned, and went over to a drawer to pull out a pair of opera-glasses.

'I have to make a few calls,' he said. 'After that I'm taking you to the Admiral to be arrested on charges of espionage.'

The Doctor grinned at him. As if.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's note: <strong>__Ugh, and we're back. God, the last time I updated this story was HOW long ago? I actually calculated it: It's been 7 months and 11 days (that's 32 weeks, 224 days, 5376 hours, 322,560 minutes, or 19,353,600 seconds, give or take) since I've last updated this story. _

_So, yeah, I'm not dead, as I'm sure you're all glad to hear, I just came down with an absolutely catastrophic case of writer's block after an incident at a school club made me go off Evangelion. I won't go into it, but let's just say involved a very crappy PowerPoint presentation, and some very frustrated friends of mine (also, I may or may not have become a brony in the meantime, but that's besides the point). _

_I'm glad to have finally finished this chapter after so many months away from it, having had my interests rekindled by finally getting to see the absolutely gorgeous _Rebuild of Evangelion _movies, finally._

_I apologise to you all sincerely for the long wait. I hope to get a few more chapters to you soon, but I make no promises. But, trust me, I do hope to finish what I started some day, even if it takes years to do so. Hell, NGE: Nobody Dies has been going for two years now, and that's not even two-thirds done, yet, so give me time, damnit!_

_Until then, thank you all for supporting me and waiting for so long. I'm really, really sorry that I couldn't have updated sooner. Oh, and I'm no longer putting stupid disclaimers at the ends of my chapters because they are the most legally-unsound thing ever. That is all, thank you, and good night!_


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